The  Romance  of  a 
Plain  Man 

By  ELLEN   GLASGOW 


Author  of  *'The  Ancient  Law,"    **  The  Deliverance," 

-The  Battle  Ground,"  -The  Wheel  of  Life," 

"The  Voice  of  the  People,"  etc. 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY 

Publishers  New  York 


9^1 


r 

COPYRIGHT,     1 910,     BY    DOUBLEDAY,    PAGX    k    COMPANY 
COPYRIGHT,   IjO),   BY   THE    MACMILLAN   COMPA-NY 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED,    INCLUDING  THAT    OP  TRANSLATION 
INTO   FOREIGN    LANGUAGES,   INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 


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CONTENTS 


CUAPTBB 

FASa 

I. 

In   which   I  APPEAR   WITH   FeW   PRETENSIONS    . 

1 

n. 

The  Enchanted  Garden   

16 

m. 

A  Pair  of  Red  Shoes 

34 

IV. 

In  which  I  PLAY  IN  the  Enchanted  Garden 

r 

45 

V. 

In   WHICH   I   START   IN   LiFE             .... 

58 

VI. 

Concerning  Carrots 

72 

vn. 

In  WHICH  I  mount  the  First  Rung  of  the  Ladder 

87 

VIII. 

In  which  my  Education  Begins 

. 

102 

IX. 

I  LEARN  A  Little  Latin  and  a  Great  Deal  of 

Life     ......... 

115 

X. 

In  which  I  Grow  Up 

, 

127 

XI. 

In   which   I   ENTER    SOCIETY   AND    GET   A    FaLL 

. 

139 

xn. 

I    WALK    INTO     THE     COUNTRY     AND     MEET    WITH    AN 

Adventure         

154 

XIIL 

In   WHICH   I   RUN    AGAINST    TRADITIONS 

165 

XIV. 

In    WHICH   I    TEST    MY    STRENGTH 

176 

XV. 

A  Meeting  in  the  Enchanted  Garden. 

180 

XVI. 

In  WHICH  Sally  speaks  her  Mind  . 

199 

XVII. 

In  which  MY  Fortunes  Rise     . 

211 

XVIII. 

The  Principles  of  Miss  Matoaca  . 

220 

XIX. 

Shows  the  Triumph  of  Love   . 

231 

XX. 

In  which  Society  receives  Us 

237 

XXI. 

I  AM  the  Wonder  of  the  Hour 

247 

xxn. 

The  Man  and  the  Class  . 

259 

XXIII. 

In  which  I  WALK  ON  Thin  Ice 

280 

CONTENTS 


CHAPTEE 

XXIV.  In  which  I  go  Down       .        .        .        . 

XXY.  We  face  the  Facts  and  Each  Other 

XXVI.  The  Red  Flag  at  the  Gate 

XXVII.  TVe  close  the  Door  behln'd  Us 

XXVIII.  In  which  Sally  Stoops  . 

XXIX.  In  which  we  receive  Visitors 

XXX.  In  which  Sally  Plans    . 

XXXI.  The  Deepest  Shadow 

XXXII.  I  come  to  the  Surface  . 

XXXIII.  The  Growing  Distance  . 

XXXIV.  The  Blow  that  Clears  . 
XXXV.  The  Ultimate  Choice     . 


PAGB 

296 
306 
317 
331 
313 
358 
376 
391 
406 
430 
445 
459 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  A  PLAIN  MAN 


Ellen  Glasgow's  World  I 

For  several  days  now  I  have  been  j' 
living  happily  in  Ellen  Glasgow's  I 
world.  I  attempt  to  take  my  satis- 
faction to  pieces,  and  I  find  myself 
cataloging  her  abundant  powers.  .  .  . 
Go  where  you  will  in  her  Southern 
world,  there  is  perfume  in  the  sun- 
lit air,  hyacinths  and  the  scent  of 
wild  grapes  and  microphylla  roses; 
there  are  the  budding  sycamore  and 
the  foam  of  dogwood  and  red  bud; 
sparrows  rustle  among  the  Virginia 
creepers,  thrushes  sing,  bluebirds 
flicker  over  the  pastures;  sunsets 
glow  behind  dark  pines;  there  is  the 
sound  of  water  flowing. 

Of  her  humor  one  could  Avrite  a 
chapter.  Her  humbler  characters — 
Negroes  and  rustic  ancient,  white 
folks,  religious  and  irreligious — 
abound  in  sage  observations  and 
comparisons,  earthy,  droll,  bitter 
or  wise,  between  what  the  Baptist 
minister  teaches  them  on  Sunday  and 
what  they  learn  Avhen  they  go  out- 
side the  church  door.  The  rural 
humorists    in    "The    Miller    ot    Old 


THE  KOMANCE  OF  A  PLAIN  MAN 

CHAPTER  I 

m  WHICH  I   APPEAR  WITH   FEW  PRETENSIONS 

As  the  storm  broke  and  a  shower  of  hail  rattled  like 
a  handful  of  pebbles  against  our  little  window,  I  choked 
back  a  sob  and  edged  my  small  green-painted  stool  a 
trifle  nearer  the  hearth.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
wire  fender,  my  father  kicked  off  his  wet  boots,  stretched 
his  feet,  in  grey  yarn  stockings,  out  on  the  rag  carpet 
in  front  of  the  fire,  and  reached  for  his  pipe  which  he 
had  laid,  still  smoking,  on  the  floor  under  his  chair. 

^'It^s  as  true  as  the  Bible,  Benjy,'^  he  said,  ^Hhat  on 
the  day  you  were  born  yo'  brother  President  traded 
off  my  huntin'  breeches  for  a  yaller  pup.'^ 

My  knuckles  went  to  my  eyes,  while  the  smart  of 
my  mother's  slap  faded  from  the  cheek  I  had  turned  to 
the  fire. 

^'What's  become  o'  th'  p-p-up-p?''  I  demanded,  as 
I  stared  up  at  him  ^dth  my  mouth  held  half  open  in 
readiness  to  break  out  again. 

'^Dead,"  responded  my  father  solemnly,  and  I  wept 
aloud. 

It  was  an  October  evening  in  my  childhood,  and  so 
vivid  has  my  later  memory  of  it  become  that  I  can  still 
see  the  sheets  of  water  that  rolled  from  the  lead 
pipe  on  our  roof,  and  can  still  hear  the  splash  !  splash ! 

B  1 


2  ,    TfiK.BOMi^^U^E   OF   A  PLAIN  MAN 

with  which  they  fell  into  the  gutter  below.  For  three 
days  the  clouds  had  hung  in  a  grey  curtain  over  the  city, 
and  at  dawn  a  high  wind,  blowing  up  from  the  river, 
had  driven  the  dead  leaves  from  the  churchyard  like 
flocks  of  startled  swallows  into  our  little  street.  Since 
morning  I  had  watched  them  across  my  mother's  ^  ^  prize ' ' 
red  geranium  upon  our  window-sill — now  whipped  into 
deep  swirls  and  eddies  over  the  sunken  brick  pavement, 
now  rising  in  sighing  swarms  against  the  closed  doors  of 
the  houses,  now  soaring  aloft  until  they  flew  almost  as 
high  as  the  living  swallows  in  the  belfry  of  old  Saint 
John's.  Then  as  the  dusk  fell,  and  the  street  lamps 
glimmered  like  blurred  stars  through  the  rain,  I  drew 
back  into  our  little  sitting-room,  which  glowed  bright 
as  an  ember  against  the  fierce  weather  outside. 

Half  an  hour  earlier  my  father  had  come  up  from 
the  marble  yard,  where  he  spent  his  days  cutting  lambs 
and  doves  and  elaborate  ivy  wreaths  in  stone,  and  the 
smell  from  his  great  rubber  coat,  which  hung  drying  be- 
fore the  kitchen  stove,  floated  Tvdth  the  aroma  of  coffee 
through  the  half-open  door.  When  I  closed  an  eye  and 
peeped  through  the  crack,  I  could  see  my  mother's  tall 
shadow,  shifting,  not  flitting,  on  the  whitewashed  wall 
of  the  kitchen,  as  she  passed  back  and  forth  from  the 
stove  to  the  wooden  cradle  in  which  my  little  sister 
Jessy  lay  asleep,  with  the  head  of  her  rag  doll  in  her 
mouth. 

Outside  the  splash  !  splash  !  of  the  rain  still  sounded 
on  the  brick  pavement,  and  as  I  glanced  through  the 
window,  I  saw  an  old  blind  negro  beggar  groping  under 
the  street  lamp  at  the  corner.  The  muffled  beat  of  his 
stick  in  the  drenched  leaves  passed  our  doorstep,  and 


I   APPEAR  WITH   FEW   PRETENSIONS  3 

I  heard  it  grow  gradually  fainter  as  he  turned  in  the 
direction  of  the  negro  hovels  that  bordered  our  end  of 
the  town.     Across  the  street,  and  on  either  side  of  us, 
there  were  rows  of  small  boxlike  frame  houses  built 
with  narrow  door-ways,  which  opened  from  the  side- 
walk into  funny  little  kitchens,  where  women,  in  soiled 
calico  dresses,  appeared  to  iron  all  day  long.     It  was 
the  poorer  quarter  of  what  is  known  in  Richmond  as 
''Church  Hill,''  a  portion  of  the  city  which  had  been 
left  behind  in  the  earlier  fashionable  progress  westward. 
Between  us  and  modern  Richmond  there  were  several 
high  hills,  up  which  the  poor  dripping  horses  panted  on 
summer  days,  a  railroad  station,  and  a  broad  slum-like 
bottom  vaguely  described  as  the  ''Old  Market."  .  Our 
prosperity,  with  our  traditions,  had  crumbled  around 
us,  yet  there  were  still  left  the  ancient  church,  with  its 
shady  graveyard,  and  an  imposing  mansion  or  two  in- 
herited from  the  forgotten  splendour  of  former  days. 
The  other  Richmond  —  that  "up-town  "  I  heard  some- 
times mentioned  —  I  had  never    seen,  for    my  early 
horizon  was  bounded  by  the  green  hill,  by  the  crawl- 
ing salmon-coloured  James  River  at  its  foot,  and  by 
the  quaint  white  belfry  of  the  parish  of  old  St.  John's. 
Beneath  that  belfry  I  had  made  miniature  graves  on 
summer  afternoons,  and  as  I  sat  now  opposite  to  my 
father,  with  the  bright  fire  between  us,  the  memory  of 
those  crumbling  vaults  made  me  hug  myself  in  the 
warmth,  while  I  edged  nearer  the  great  black  kettle 
singing  before  the  flames. 

"Pa,"  I  asked  presently,  with  an  effort  to  resume 
the  conversation  along  cheerful  lines,  "was  it  a  he  or 
a  she  pup?" 


4  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

My  father  turned  his  bright  blue  eyes  from  the  fire, 
while  his  hand  wandered,  with  an  habitual  gesture,  to 
his  coarse  straw-coloured  hair  which  stood,  like  mine, 
straight  up  from  the  forehead. 

^^Wall,  111  be  blessed  if  I  can  recollect,  Benjy,^* 
he  replied,  and  added  after  a  moment,  in  which  I  knew 
that  his  slow  wits  were  working  over  a  fresh  attempt 
at  distraction,  '^but  speaking  of  dawgs,  it  wouldn't 
surprise  me  if  yo'  ma  was  to  let  you  have  a  b'iled  egg 
for  yo'  supper." 

Again  the  storm  was  averted.  He  was  so  handsome, 
so  soft,  so  eager  to  make  everybody  happy,  that  al- 
though he  did  not  deceive  even  my  infant  mind  for  a 
minute,  I  felt  obliged  by  sheer  force  of  sympathy  to 
step  into  the  amiable  snare  he  laid. 

''Hard  or  soft  ?  "  I  demanded. 

''Now  that's  a  matter  of  ch'ice,  ain't  it  ?"  he  rejoined, 
wrinkling  his  forehead  as  if  awed  by  the  gravity  of  the 
decision;  "but  bein'  a  plain  man  with  a  taste  for  solids, 
I'd  say  'hard'  every  time." 

"Hard,  ma,"  I  repeated  gravely  through  the  crack 
of  the  door  to  the  shifting  shape  on  the  kitchen 
wall.  Then,  while  he  stooped  over  in  the  firelight 
to  prod  fresh  tobacco  into  his  pipe,  I  began  again  my 
insatiable  quest  for  knowledge  which  had  brought 
me  punishment  at  the  hand  of  my  mother  an  hour 
before. 

"Pa,  who  named  me?" 

"Yo'  ma." 

"Did  ma  name  you,  too?'' 

He  shook  his  head,  doubtfully,  not  negatively. 
Above  his  short  growth  of  beard  his  cheeks  had  warmed 


I  APPEAR  WITH  FEW  PRETENSIONS       5 

to  a  clear  pink,  and  his  foolish  blue  eyes  were  as  soft 
as  the  eyes  of  a  baby. 

''Wall,  I  canH  say  she  did  that  —  exactly." 
''Then  who  did  name  you?" 
"I  don't  recollect.     My  ma,  I  reckon." 
"Did  ma  name  me  Ben  Starr,  or  just  Ben?" 
"Just  Ben.     You  were  born  Starr." 
"Was  she  born  Starr,  too?" 
"Good  Lord,  no,  she  was  born  Savage." 
"Then  why  warnH  I  born  Savage?" 
"Because  she  married  me  an'  I  was  born  Starr." 
I  gave  it  up  with  a  sigh.     "Who  had  the  most  to 
do  with  my  comin'  here,  God  or  ma?"  I  asked  after  a 
minute. 

My  father  hesitated  as  if  afraid  of  committing  him- 
self to  an  heretical  utterance.  "I  ain't  so  sure,"  he 
replied  at  last,  and  added  immediately  in  a  louder 
tone,  "Yo'  ma,  I  s'pose." 

"Then  why  don't  I  say  my  prayers  to  ma  instead  of 
to  God?" 

"I  wouldn't  begin  to  worry  over  that  at  my  age, 

if  I  were  you,"  replied  my  father,  with  angelic  patience, 

"seein'  as  it's  near  supper  time  an'  the  kettle's  a-bilin'." 

"But  I  want  to  know,  pa,  why  it  was  that  I  came 

to  be  named  just  Ben?" 

"To  be  named  just  Ben?"  he  repeated  slowly,  as  if 
the  fact  had  been  brought  for  the  first  time  to  his 
attention.  "Wall,  I  reckon  'twas  because  we'd  had 
considerable  trouble  over  the  namin'  of  the  first,  which 
was  yo'  brother  President.  That  bein'  the  turn  of  the 
man  of  the  family,  I  calculated  that  as  a  plain  Ameri- 
can citizen,  I  couldn't  do  better  than  show  I  hadn't 


6  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

any  ill  feelin'  agin  the  Government.  I  don't  recollect 
just  what  the  name  of  the  gentleman  at  the  head  of 
the  Nation  was,  seein'  'twas  goin'  on  sixteen  years  ago, 
but  I'd  made  up  my  mind  to  call  the  infant  in  the 
cradle  arter  him,  if  he'd  ever  answered  my  letter  — 
which  he  never  did.  It  was  then  yo'  ma  an'  I  had 
words  because  she  didn't  want  a  child  of  hers  named 
arter  such  a  bad-mannered,  stuck-up,  ornary  sort. 
President  or  no  President.  She  raised  a  terrible 
squall,  but  I  held  out  against  her,"  he  went  on,  dropping 
his  voice,  '^an'  I  stood  up  for  it  that  as  long  as  'twas 
the  office  an'  not  the  man  I  was  complimentin',  I'd 
name  him  arter  the  office,  which  I  did  on  the  spot. 
When  'twas  over  an'  done  the  notion  got  into  my  head 
an'  kind  of  tickled  me,  an'  when  you  came  at  last, 
arter  the  four  others  in  between,  that  died  befo'  they 
took  breath,  I  was  a'ready  to  name  you  ^Governor' 
if  yo'  ma  had  been  agreeable.  But  'twas  her  turn,  so 
she  called  you  arter  her  Uncle  Benjamin  — " 

^'What's  become  o'  Uncle  Benjamin?"  I  interrupted. 

'^Dead,"  responded  my  father,  and  for  the  third 
time  I  wept. 

^^I  declar'  that  child's  been  goin'  on  like  that  for  the 
last  hour,"  remarked  my  mother,  appearing  upon  the 
threshold.  ^^Thar,  thar,  Benjy  boy,  stop  cryin'  an' 
I'll  let  you  go  to  old  Mr.  Cudlip's  burial  to-morrow." 

'^May  I  go,  too,  ma?"  enquired  President,  who  had 
come  in  with  a  lighted  lamp  in  his  hand.  He  was  a 
ibig,  heavy,  overgrown  boy,  and  his  head  was  already 
on  a  level  with  his  father's. 

'^Not  if  I  know  it,"  responded  my  mother  tartly, 
for  her  temper  was  rising  and  she  looked  tired  and 


I   APPEAR   WITH    FEW    PEETEXSIOXS  7 

anxious.     '^I'll  take  Benjy  along  because  he  can  crowd 
in  an^  nobody  11  mind.'' 

She  moved  a  step  nearer  while  her  shadow  loomed  to 
gigantic  proportions  on  the  whitewashed  wall.  Her 
thin  brown  hair,  partially  streaked  with  grey,  was 
brushed  closely  over  her  scalp,  and  this  gave  her  profile 
an  angularity  that  became  positively  grotesque  in  the 
shape  behind  her.  Across  her  forehead  there  were 
three  deep  frowning  wrinkles,  which  did  not  disappear 
even  when  she  smiled,  and  her  sad,  flint-coloured  eyes 
held  a  perplexed  and  anxious  look,  as  if  she  were  trying 
always  to  remember  something  w^hich  was  very  im- 
portant and  which  she  had  half  forgotten.  I  had  never 
seen  her,  except  when  she  went  to  funerals,  dressed 
otherwise  than  in  a  faded  grey  calico  with  a  faded  grey 
shawl  crossed  tightly  over  her  bosom  and  drawn  to  the 
back  of  her  waist,  where  it  was  secured  by  a  safety  pin 
of  an  enormous  size.  Beside  her  my  father  looked  so 
young  and  so  amiable  that  I  had  a  confused  impression 
that  he  had  shrunk  to  my  own  age  and  importance. 
Then  my  mother  retreated  into  the  kitchen  and  he 
resumed  immediately  his  natural  proportions.  After 
thirty  years,  when  I  think  now  of  that  ugly  little  room, 
with  its  painted  pine  furniture,  with  its  coloured  glass 
vases,  filled  with  dried  cat-tails,  upon  the  mantelpiece, 
with  its  crude  red  and  yellow  print  of  a  miniature  David 
attacking  a  colossal  Goliath,  with  its  narrow  window- 
panes,  where  beyond  the  ''prize"  red  geranium  the  wind 
drove  the  fallen  leaves  over  the  brick  pavement,  with 
its  staring  whitewashed  walls,  and  its  hideous  rag 
carpet  —  when  I  think  of  these  vulgar  details  it  is  to 
find   that    they   are   softened   in   my   memory    by    a 


8  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

sense  of  peace,  of  shelter,  and  of  warm  firelight 
shadows. 

My  mother  had  just  laid  the  supper  table,  over  which 
I  had  watched  her  smooth  the  clean  red  and  white 
cloth  with  her  t^dsted  fingers;  President  was  proudly 
holding  aloft  a  savoury  dish  of  broiled  herrings,  and 
my  father  had  pinned  on  my  bib  and  drawn  back  the 
green-painted  chair  in  which  I  sat  for  my  meals  — 
when  a  hurried  knock  at  the  door  arrested  each  one  of 
us  in  his  separate  attitude  as  if  he  had  been  instantly 
petrified  by  the  sound. 

There  was  a  second's  pause,  and  then  before  my 
father  could  reach  it,  the  door  opened  and  shut  violently, 
and  a  woman,  in  a  dripping  cloak,  holding  a  little  girl  by 
the  hand,  came  from  the  storm  outside,  and  ran  straight 
to  the  fire,  where  she  stood  shaking  the  child's  wet 
clothes  before  the  flames.  As  the  light  fell  over  them, 
I  saw  that  the  woman  was  young  and  delicate  and 
richly  dressed,  ^dth  a  quantity  of  pale  brown  hair 
which  the  rain  and  wind  had  beaten  flat  against  her 
small  frightened  face.  x4t  the  time  she  was  doubtless 
an  unusually  pretty  creature  to  a  grown-up  pair  of 
eyes,  but  my  gaze,  burning  with  curiosity,  passed 
quickly  over  her  to  rest  upon  the  little  girl,  who  pos- 
sessed for  me  the  attraction  of  my  own  age  and  size. 
She  wore  red  shoes,  I  saw  at  my  first  glance,  and  a 
white  cloak,  which  I  took  to  be  of  fur,  though  it  was 
probably  made  of  some  soft,  fuzzy  cloth  I  had  never 
seen.  There  was  a  white  cap  on  her  head,  held  by  an 
elastic  band  under  her  square  little  chin,  and  about  her 
shoulders  her  hair  lay  in  a  profuse,  drenched  mass  of 
brown,   which    reminded    me    in   the   firelight  of   the 


I  APPEAR  WITH  FEW  PRETENSIONS       9 

colour  of  wet  November  leaves.  She  was  soaKed 
through,  and  yet  as  she  stood  there,  with  her  teeth 
chattering  in  the  warmth,  I  was  struck  by  the  courage, 
almost  the  defiance,  with  which  she  returned  my  gaze. 
Baby  that  she  was,  I  felt  that  she  would  scorn  to  cry 
while  my  glance  was  upon  her,  though  there  were 
fresh  tear  marks  on  her  flushed  cheeks,  and  around  her 
solemn  grey  eyes  that  were  made  more  luminous  by 
her  broad,  heavily  arched  black  eyebrows,  which  gave 
her  an  intense  and  questioning  look.  The  memory 
of  this  look,  which  was  strange  in  so  young  a  child, 
remained  with  me  after  the  colour  of  her  hair  and  every 
charming  feature  in  her  face  were  forgotten.  Years 
afterwards  I  think  I  could  have  recognised  her  in  a 
crowded  street  by  the  mingling  of  light  with  darkness, 
of  intense  black  with  clear  grey,  in  her  sparkling  glance. 

'^I  followed  the  wrong  turn,"  said  the  pale  little 
w^oman,  breathing  hard  with  a  pitiable,  frightened 
sound,  while  my  mother  took  her  dripping  cloak  from 
her  shoulders,  ''and  I  could  not  keep  on  because  of  the 
rain  which  came  up  so  heavily.  If  I  could  only  reach 
the  foot  of  the  hill  I  might  find  a  carriage  to  take  me 
up-town.'^ 

My  father  had  sprung  forward  as  she  entered,  and 
was  vigorously  stirring  the  fire,  which  blazed  and 
crackled  merrily  in  the  open  grate.  She  accepted 
thankfully  my  mother's  efforts  to  relieve  her  of  her 
wet  wraps,  but  the  little  girl  drew  back  haughtily 
when  she  was  approached,  and  refused  obstinately  to 
slip  out  of  her  cloak,  from  which  the  water  ran  in 
streams  to  the  floor. 

''I  don't  like  it  here,  mamma,  it  is  a  common  place,*' 


10  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

she  said,  in  a  clear  childish  voice,  and  though  I  hardly 
grasped  the  meaning  of  her  words,  her  tone  brought  to 
me  for  the  first  time  a  feeling  of  shame  for  my  humble 
surroundings. 

''Hush,  Sally,"  replied  her  mother,  ''you  must  dry 
yourself.     These  people  are  very  kind." 

"But  I  thought  we  were  going  to  grandmama's?" 

"Grandmama  lives  up-town,  and  we  are  going  as 
soon  as  the  storm  has  blown  over.  There,  be  a  good 
girl  and  let  the  little  boy  take  your  wet  cap." 

"I  don^t  want  him  to  take  my  cap.  He  is  a  common 
boy." 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  she  seemed  to  me  to  be  the 
most  disagreeable  little  girl  I  had  ever  met,  the  word 
she  had  used  was  lodged  unalterably  in  my  memory. 
In  that  puzzled  instant,  I  think,  began  my  struggle 
to  rise  out  of  the  class  in  which  I  belonged  by  birth; 
and  I  remember  that  I  repeated  the  word  "common" 
in  a  whisper  to  myself,  while  I  resolved  that  I  would 
learn  its  meaning  in  order  that  I  might  cease  to  be  the 
unknown  thing  that  it  implied. 

My  mother,  w^ho  had  gone  into  the  kitchen  with  the 
dripping  cloak  in  her  arms,  returned  a  moment  later 
with  a  cup  of  steaming  coffee  in  one  hand  and  a  mug 
of  hot  milk  in  the  other. 

"It's  a  mercy  if  you  haven't  caught  your  death  with 
an  inner  chill,"  she  observed  in  a  brisk,  kindly  tone. 
"  'Twas  the  way  old  Mr.  Cudlip,  whose  funeral  I'm  going 
to  to-morrow,  came  to  his  end,  and  he  was  as  hale, 
red-faced  a  body  as  you  ever  laid  eyes  on." 

The  woman  received  the  cup  gratefully,  and  I  could  see 
her  poor  thin  hands  tremble  as  she  raised  it  to  her  lips. 


I  APPEAR  WITH  FEW  PRETENSIONS      U 

'^Drink  the  warm  milk,  dear/'  she  said  pleadingly 
to  the  disagreeable  little  girl,  who  shook  her  head  and 
drew  back  with  a  stiff  childish  gesture. 

^^I'm  not  hungry,  thank  you/^  she  replied  to  my 
mother  in  her  sweet,  clear  treble.  To  all  further  en- 
treaties she  returned  the  same  answer,  standing  there  a 
haughty,  though  drenched  and  battered  infant,  in  her 
soiled  white  cloak  and  her  red  shoes,  holding  her  mop 
of  a  muff  tightly  in  both  hands. 

^'I'm  not  hungry,  thank  you,''  she  repeated,  adding 
presently  in  a  manner  of  chill  politeness,  ^'give  it  to 
the  boy.'' 

But  the  boy  was  not  hungry  either,  and  when  my 
mother,  finally  taking  her  at  her  word,  turned,  in  ex- 
asperation, and  offered  the  mug  to  me,  I  declined  it, 
also,  and  stood  nervously  shifting  from  one  foot  to  the 
other,  while  my  hands  caught  and  twisted  the  fringe 
of  the  table-cloth  at  my  back.  The  big  grey  eyes  of 
the  little  girl  looked  straight  into  mine,  but  there  was 
no  hint  in  them  that  she  was  aware  of  my  existence. 
Though  her  teeth  were  chattering,  and  she  knew  I 
heard  them,  she  did  not  relax  for  an  instant  from  her 
scornful  attitude. 

^'We  were  just  about  to  take  a  mouthful  of  supper, 
mum,  an'  we'd  be  proud  if  you  an'  the  little  gal  would 
jine  us,"  remarked  my  father,  with  an  eager  hospitality. 

^'I  thank  you,"  replied  the  woman  in  her  pretty, 
grateful  manner,  '^but  the  coffee  has  restored  my 
strength,  and  if  you  will  direct  me  to  the  hill,  I  shall 
be  quite  able  to  go  on  again." 

A  step  passed  close  to  the  door  on  the  pavement 
outside,  and  I  saw  her  start  and  clutch  the  child  to  her 


12  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

bosom  with  trembling  hands.  As  she  stood  there  in 
her  shaking  terror,  I  remembered  a  white  kitten  I 
had  once  seen  chased  by  boys  into  the  area  of  a  de- 
serted house. 

'^If  —  if  anyone  should  come  to  enquu'e  after  me, 
will  you  be  so  good  as  to  say  nothing  of  my  having 
been  here?^^   she  asked. 

^^To  be  sure  I  will,  with  all  the  pleasure  in  life," 
responded  my  father,  who,  it  was  evident  even  to  me, 
had  become  a  victim  to  her  distressed  loveliness. 

Emboldened  by  the  effusive  politeness  of  my  parent, 
I  went  up  to  the  little  girl  and  shyly  offered  her  a  blos- 
som from  my  mother ^s  geranium  upon  the  wdndow^-sill. 
A  scrap  of  a  hand,  as  cold  as  ice  when  it  touched  mine, 
closed  over  the  stem  of  the  flower,  and  without  looking 
at  me,  she  stood,  very  erect,  with  the  scarlet  geranium 
grasped  stiffly  between  her  fingers. 

''I'll  take  you  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill  myself," 
protested  my  father,  ''but  I  wish  you  could  persuade 
yourself  to  try  a  bite  of  food  befo'  you  set  out  in  the 
rain." 

"It  is  important  that  I  should  lose  no  time,"  an- 
swered the  woman,  drawing  her  breath  quickly  through 
her  small  white  teeth,  "but  I  fear  that  I  am  taking 
you  aw^ay  from  your  supper?" 

"Not  at  all,  you  -^ill  not  deprive  me  in  the  least," 
stammered  my  father,  blushing  up  to  his  ears,  while 
his  straight  flaxen  hair  appeared  literally  to  rise  with 
embarrassment.  "I  —  I  —  the  fact  is  I'm  not  an 
eat«r,  mum." 

For  an  instant,  remembering  the  story  of  Ananias 
I  had  heard  in  Sunday-school,  I  looked  round  in  terror, 


I   APPEAR   WITH   FEW   PPwETENSIONS  13 

half  expecting  to  hear  the  dreadful  feet  of  the  young 
men  on  the  pavement.  But  he  passed  scathless  for 
the  hour  at  least,  and  our  visitor  had  turned  to  re- 
ceive her  half-dried  cloak  from  my  mother^s  hands, 
when  her  face  changed  suddenly  to  a  more  deadly 
pallor,  and  seizing  the  little  girl  by  the  shoulder,  she 
fled,  like  a  small  frightened  animal,  across  the  thresh- 
old  into   the   kitchen. 

My  father's  hand  had  barely  reached  the  knob  of  the 
street  door,  when  it  opened  and  a  man  in  a  rubber 
coat  entered,  and  stopped  short  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  where  he  stood  blinking  rapidly  in  the  lamplight. 
I  heard  the  rain  drip  with  a  soft  pattering  sound  from 
his  coat  to  the  floor,  and  when  he  wheeled  about,  after 
an  instant  in  which  his  glance  searched  the  room, 
I  saw  that  his  face  was  flushed  and  his  eyes  swimming 
and  bloodshot.  There  was  in  his  look,  as  I  remember 
it  now,  something  of  the  inflamed  yet  bridled  cruelty 
of  a  bird  of  prey. 

^^Have  you  noticed  a  lady  with  a  little  girl  go  by?" 
he  enquired. 

At  his  question  my  father  fell  back  a  step  or  two 
until  he  stood  squarely  planted  before  the  door  into 
the  kitchen.  Though  he  was  a  big  man,  he  was  not  so 
big  as  the  other,  who  towered  above  the  dried  cat-tails 
in  a  china  vase  on  the  mantelpiece. 

'^Are  you  sure  they  did  not  pass  here?''  asked  the 
stranger,  and  as  he  turned  his  head  the  dried  pollen 
was  loosened  from  the  cat-tails  and  drifted  in  an  ashen 
dust  to  the  hearth. 

^^No,  I'll  stake  my  word  on  that.  They  ain't  passed 
here  yet,"  replied  my  father. 


14  THE    ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

With  an  angry  gesture  the  other  shook  his  rubber 
coat  over  our  bright  little  carpet,  and  passed  out  again, 
slamming  the  door  violently  behind  him.  Running  to 
the  window,  I  lifted  the  green  shade,  and  watched  his 
big  black  figure  splashing  recklessly  through  the  heavy 
puddles  under  the  faint  yellowish  glimmer  of  the 
street  lamp  at  the  corner.  The  light  flickered  feebly 
on  his  rubber  coat  and  appeared  to  go  out  in  the  stream? 
of  water  that  fell  from  his  shoulders. 

When  I  looked  round  I  saw  that  the  woman  had  come 
back  into  the  room,  still  grasping  the  little  girl  by  the 
hand. 

'^No,  no,  I  must  go  at  once.  It  is  necessary  that  I 
should  go  at  once,"  she  repeated  breathlessly,  looking 
up  in  a  dazed  way  into  my  mother's  face. 

''If  you  must  you  must,  an'  what  ain't  my  business 
ain't,"  replied  my  mother  a  trifle  sharply,  while  she 
wrapped  a  grey  woollen  comforter  of  her  own  closely 
over  the  head  and  shoulders  of  the  little  girl,  ''but  if 
you'd  take  my  advice,  which  you  won't,  you'd  turn  this 
minute  an'  walk  straight  back  home  to  yo'  husband." 

But  the  woman  only  shook  her  head  with  its  drenched 
mass  of  soft  brown  hair. 

"We  must  go,  Sally,  mustn't  we?"  she  said  to  the 
chfld. 

"Yes,  we  must  go,  mamma,"  answered  the  little  girl, 
still  grasping  the  stem  of  the  red  geranium  between 
her  fingers. 

"That  bein'  the  case,  I'll  get  into  my  coat  with  all 
the  pleasure  in  life  an'  see  you  safe,"  remarked  my 
father,  with  a  manner  that  impressed  me  as  little  short 
of  the  magnificent. 


I   APPEAR   WITH   FEW   PRETENSIONS  15 

''But  I  hate  to  take  you  away  from  home  on  such  a 
terrible  night.'' 

''Oh,  don't  mention  the  weather,"  responded  my 
gallant  parent,  while  he  struggled  into  his  rubber  shoes ; 
and  he  added  quite  handsomely,  after  a  flourish  which 
appeared  to  set  the  elements  at  defiance,  "arter  all, 
weather  is  only  weather,  mum." 

As  nobody,  not  even  my  mother,  was  found  to 
challenge  the  truth  of  this  statement,  the  child  was 
warmly  wrapped  up  in  an  old  blanket  shawl,  and  my 
father  lifted  her  in  his  arms,  while  the  three  set  out 
under  a  big  cotton  umbrella  for  the  brow  of  the  hill. 
President  and  I  peered  after  them  from  the  window, 
screening  our  eyes  with  our  hollowed  palms,  and 
flattening  our  noses  against  the  icy  panes ;  but  in  spite 
of  our  efforts  we  could  only  discern  dimly  the  shape  of 
the  umbrella  rising  like  a  miniature  black  mountain 
out  of  the  white  blur  of  the  fog.  The  long  empty  street 
with  the  wind-drifts  of  dead  leaves,  the  pale  glimmer 
of  the  solitary  light  at  the  far  corner,  the  steady  splash  ! 
splash !  of  the  rain  as  it  fell  on  the  brick  pavement, 
the  bitter  draught  that  blew  in  over  the  shivering 
geranium  upon  the  sill  —  all  these  brought  a  lump  to 
my  throat,  and  I  turned  back  quickly  into  our  cheerful 
little  room,  where  my  untasted  supper  awaited  me. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN 

The  funeral  was  not  until  nine  o'clock,  but  at  seven 
my  mother  served  us  a  cold  breakfast  in  order,  as  she 
said,  that  she  might  get  the  dishes  washed  and  the 
house  tidied  before  we  started.  Gathering  about  the 
bare  table,  we  ate  our  dismal  meal  in  a  depressed  silence, 
while  she  bustled  back  and  forth  from  the  kitchen  in 
her  holiday  attire,  which  consisted  of  a  stiff  black 
bombazine  dress  and  the  long  rustling  crape  veil  she 
had  first  put  on  at  the  death  of  her  uncle  Benjamin, 
some  twenty  years  before.  As  her  only  outings  were 
those  occasioned  by  the  deaths  of  her  neighbours,  I 
suppose  her  costume  was  quite  as  appropriate  as  it 
seemed  to  my  childish  eyes.  Certainly,  as  she  appeared 
before  me  in  her  hard,  shiny,  very  full  bombazine  skirt 
and  attenuated  bodice,  I  regarded  her  with  a  reverence 
which  her  everyday  calico  had  never  inspired. 

''I  ain't  et  a  mouthful  an'  I  doubt  if  I'll  have  time 
to  befo'  we  start,"  she  was  saying  in  an  irritable  voice, 
as  I  settled  into  my  bib  and  my  chair.  ''Anybody 
might  have  thought  I'd  be  allowed  to  attend  a  funeral 
in  peace,  but  I  shan't  be,  —  no,  not  even  when  it  comes 
to  my  own." 

''Thar's  plenty  of  time  yet,  Susan,"  returned  my 
father  cheerfully,   while  he  sawed  at  the  cold  corn- 

le 


THE   ENCHANTED    GARDEN  17 

bread  on  the  table.     ''You've  got  a  good  hour  an'  mo' 
befo'  you." 

^'An'  the  things  to  wash  up  an'  the  house  to  tidy 
in  my  veil  and  bonnet.  Thar  ain't  many  women,  I 
reckon,  that  would  wash  up  china  in  a  crape  veil,  but 
I've  done  it  befo'  an'  I'm  used  to  it." 

''Why  don't  you  lay  off  yo'  black  things  till  you're 
through?" 

His  suggestion  was  made  innocently  enough,  but  it 
appeared,  as  he  uttered  it,  to  be  the  one  thing  needed 
to  sharpen  the  edge  of  my  mother's  temper.  The 
three  frowning  lines  deepened  across  her  forehead,  and 
she  stared  straight  before  her  with  her  perplexed  and 
anxious  look  under  her  rustling  crape. 

''Yes,  I'll  take  'em  off  an'  lay  'em  away  an'  git  back 
to  work,"  she  rejoined.  "It  did  seem  as  if  I  might 
have  taken  a  holiday  at  a  time  like  this  —  my  next 
do'  neighbour,  too,  an'  I'd  al'ays  promised  him  I'd 
see  him  laid  safe  in  the  earth.  But,  no,  I  can't  do  it. 
I'll  go  take  off  my  veil  an'  bonnet  an'  stay  at  home." 

Before  this  attack  my  father  grew  so  depressed  that 
I  half  expected  to  see  tears  fall  into  his  cup  of  coffee, 
as  they  had  into  mine.  His  handsome  gayety  dropped 
from  him,  and  he  looked  as  downcast  as  was  possible 
for  a  face  composed  of  so  many  flagrantly  cheerful 
features. 

"I  declar,  Susan,  I  wa'nt  thinkin'  of  that,"  he  re- 
turned apologetically,  "it  just  seemed  to  me  that 
you'd  be  mo'  comfortable  without  that  sheet  of  crape 
floatin'  down  yo'  back." 

"I've  never  been  comfortable  in  my  life,"  retorted 
my  mother,  "an'  I  don't  expect  to  begin  when  I  dress 


18  THE    ROMAXCE   OF   A   PLAIX   MA^s" 

myself  to  go  to  a  funeral.  It's  got  to  be,  I  reckon,  an' 
it's  what  I'm  used  to ;  but  if  thar's  a  man  alive  that 
would  stand  over  a  stove  with  a  crape  veil  on  his 
head;  I'd  be  obliged  to  him  if  he'd  step  up  an'  show 
his  face." 

At  this  point  the  half-grown  girl  who  had  promised 
to  look  after  the  baby  arrived^  and  with  her  assistance, 
my  mother  set  about  putting  the  house  in  order,  while 
my  father,  as  soon  as  his  luncheon  basket  was  packed, 
wished  us  a  pleasant  drive,  and  started  for  old  Timothy 
Ball's  marble  3^ard,  where  he  worked.  At  the  sink  in 
the  kitchen  my  mother,  with  her  crape  veil  pinned 
back,  and  her  bombazine  sleeves  rolled  up,  stood  with 
her  arms  deep  in  soapsuds. 

^^Ma,"  I  asked,  going  up  to  her  and  turning  my 
back  while  she  unfastened  m}"  bib  with  one  soapy 
hand,  '^did  you  ever  hear  anybody  call  you  common?" 

^^Callme  what?" 

'^Common.  What  does  it  mean  when  anybody  calls 
you  common?" 

'^It  means  generally  that  anybody  is  a  fool." 

'^Thenaml,  ma?" 

'Mir  you  what?" 

'^4m  I  common?" 

"FoT  the  Lord's  sake,  Benjy,  stop  yo'  pesterin'. 
"^Miat  on  earth  has  gone  an'  set  that  idee  workin'  in- 
side yo'  head?" 

''Is  pa  common?" 

She  meditated  an  instant.  "Wall,  he  wa'nt  born  a 
Savage,  but  I'd  never  have  called  him  common  — 
exactly,"  she  answered. 

"Then  perhaps  you  are?" 


THE   ENCHANTED    GARDEN  19 

''You  talk  like  a  fool!  Haven't  I  told  you  that  I 
wa'nt?''    she  snapped. 

'^Then  if  you  ain't  an'  pa  ain't  exactly,  how  can  I 
be?"    I  concluded  with  triumph. 

''Whoever  said  you  were?     Show  me  the  person." 

"It  wa'nt  a  person.     It  was  a  little  girl." 

"A  little  girl?  You  mean  the  half-drowned  brat  I 
wrapped  up  in  yo'  grandma's  old  blanket  shawl  I  set 
the  muffin  dough  under?  To  think  of  my  sendin'  yo' 
po'  tired  pa  splashin'  out  with  'em  into  the  rain.  So 
she  called  you  common?" 

But  the  sound  of  a  carriage  turning  the  corner  fell 
on  my  ears,  and  running  hastily  into  the  sitting-room, 
I  opened  the  door  and  looked  out  eagerly  for  signs  of 
the  approaching  funeral. 

A  bright  morning  had  followed  the  storm,  and  the 
burnished  leaves,  so  restless  the  day  before,  lay  now 
w^et  and  still  under  the  sunshine.  I  had  stepped 
joyously  over  the  threshold,  to  the  sunken  brick  pave- 
ment, when  my  mother,  moved  by  a  sudden  anxiety 
for  my  health,  called  me  back,  and  in  spite  of  my 
protestations,  wrapped  me  in  a  grey  blanket  shawl, 
which  she  fastened  at  my  throat  with  the  enormous 
safety-pin  she  had  taken  from  her  own  waist.  Much 
embarrassed  by  this  garment,  which  dragged  after  me 
as  I  walked,  I  followed  her  sullenly  out  of  the  house 
and  as  far  as  our  neighbour's  doorstep,  where  I  was 
ordered  to  sit  down  and  wait  until  the  service  was 
over.  As  the  stir  of  her  crape  passed  into  the  little 
hall,  I  seated  myself  obediently  on  the  single  step 
which  led  straight  from  the  street,  and  made  faces, 
during  the  long  wait,  at  the  merry  driver  of  the  hearse 


20  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

—  a  decrepit  negro  of  ancient  days,  who  grinned  pro- 
vokingly  at  the  figure  I  cut  in  my  blanket  shawl. 

''Hi!  honey,  is  you  got  on  swaddlin'  close  er  a 
windin'  sheet ?^'  he  enquired.  ''I^se  a-gittin'  near 
bline  en  I  cyarn  mek  out.'' 

''You  jest  wait  till  I'm  bigger  an'  I'll  show  you," 
was  my  peaceable  rejoinder. 

"Wat's  dat  you  gwine  sho'  me,  boy?  I  reckon  I'se 
done  seed  mo'  curus  things  den  you  in  my  lifetime." 

I  looked  up  defiantly.  Between  the  aristocratic,  if 
fallen,  negro  and  myself  there  was  all  the  instinctive 
antagonism  that  existed  in  the  Virginia  of  that  period 
between  the  "quality"  and  the  "poor  white  trash." 

"If  you  don't  lemme  alone  you'll  see  mo'n  you 
wanter." 

"Whew!  I  reckon  you  gwine  tu'n  out  sump'im' 
moughty  outlandish,  boy.  I'se  a-lookin'  wid  all  my 
eyes  an  I  cyarn  see  nuttin'  at  all." 

"Wait  till  I'm  bigger  an'  you'll  see  it,"  I  answered. 

"I'se  sho'ly  gwine  ter  wait,  caze  ef'n  hits  mo'  curus 
den  you  is  en  dat  ar  windin'  sheet,  hit's  a  sight  dat 
I'se  erbleeged  ter  lay  eyes  on.  Wat's  yo'  name,  suh?" 
he  enquired,  with  a  mocking  salute. 

"I  am  Ben  Starr,"  I  replied  promptly,  "an'  if 
you  wait  till  I  get  bigger,  I'll  bus'  you  open." 

"Hi!  hi!  wat  you  wanter  bus'  me  open  fur,  boy? 
Is  you  got  a  pa?" 

"He's  Thomas  Starr,  an'  he  cuts  lambs  and  doves 
on  tombstones.  I've  seen  'em,  an'  I'm  goin'  to  learn 
to  cut  'em,  too,  when  I  grow  up.     I  like  lambs." 

The  door  behind  me  opened  suddenly  without  warn- 
ing, and  as  I  scrambled  from  the  doorstep,  my  enemy, 


THE   ENCHAJNTED   GARDEN  21 

the  merry  driver,  backed  his  creaking  vehicle  to  the 
sidewalk  across  which  the  slow  procession  of  mourners 
filed.  A  minute  later  I  was  caught  up  by  my  mother's 
hand^  and  borne  into  a  carriage,  where  I  sat  tightly 
wedged  between  two  sombre  females. 

''So  you've  brought  yo'  little  boy  along,  Mrs.  Starr,'' 
remarked  a  third  from  the  opposite  seat,  in  an  aggres- 
sive vaice. 

''Yes,  he  had  a  cold  an'  I  thought  the  air  might 
do  him  good,"  replied  my  mother  with  her  society 
manner. 

"Wall,  I've  nine  an'  not  one  of  'em  has  ever  been 
to  a  funeral,"  returned  the  questioner.  "I've  al'ays 
been  set  dead  against  'em  for  children,  ain't  you,  Mrs. 
Boxley?" 

Mrs.  Boxley,  a  placid  elderly  woman,  who  had 
already  begun  to  doze  in  her  corner,  opened  her  eyes 
and  smiled  on  me  in  a  pleasant  and  friendly  way. 

"To  tell  the  truth  I  ain't  never  been  able  really  to 
enjoy  a  child's  funeral,"  she  replied. 

"I'm  sure  we're  all  mighty  glad  to  have  him  along, 
Mrs.  Starr,"  observed  the  fourth  woman,  who  was 
soft  and  peaceable  and  very  fat.  "He's  a  fine,  strong 
boy  now,  ain't  he,  ma'am?" 

"Middlin'  strong.  I  hope  he  ain't  crowdin'  you. 
Edge  closer  to  me,  Benjy." 

I  edged  closer  until  her  harsh  bombazine  sleeve 
seemed  to  scratch  the  skin  from  my  cheek.  Mrs. 
Boxley  had  dozed  again,  and  sinking  lower  on  the 
seat,  I  had  just  prepared  myself  to  follow  her  example, 
when  a  change  in  the  conversation  brought  my  wan- 
dering wits  instantly  together,  and  I  sat  bolt  upright 


22  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

while  my  eyes  remained  fixed  on  the  small,  straggling 
houses  we  were  passing. 

^'Yes,  she  would  go,  rain  or  no  rain,"  my  mother 
was  saying,  and  I  knew  that  in  that  second's  snatch 
of  sleep  she  had  related  the  story  of  our  last  evening's 
adventure.  ^^To  be  sure  she  may  have  been  all  she 
ought  to  be,  but  I  must  say  I  can't  help  mistrustin' 
that  little,  palaverin'  kind  of  a  woman  with  eyes  like  a 
scared  rabbit." 

^'If  it  was  Sarah  Mickleborough,  an'  I  think  it  was, 
she  had  reason  enough  to  look  scared,  po'  thing," 
observed  Mrs.  Kidd,  the  soft  fat  woman,  who  sat  on 
my  left  side.  ^^  They've  only  lived  over  here  in  the 
old  Adams  house  for  three  months,  but  the  neigh- 
bours say  he's  almost  killed  her  twice  since  they 
moved  in.  She  came  of  mighty  set  up,  high  falutin^ 
folks,  you  know,  an'  when  they  wouldn't  hear  of  the 
marriage,  she  ran  off  with  him  one  night  about  ten 
years  ago  just  after  he  came  home  out  of  the  army.  He 
looked  fine,  they  say,  in  uniform,  on  his  big  black 
horse,  but  after  the  war  ended  he  took  to  drink  and 
then  from  drink,  as  is  natchel,  he  took  to  beatin'  her. 
It's  strange  —  ain't  it? — how  easily  a  man's  hand 
turns  against  a  woman  once  he's  gone  out  of  his 
head?" 

^^Ah,  I  could  see  that  she  was  the  sort  that's  obliged 
to  be  beaten  sooner  or  later  if  thar  was  anybody 
handy  around  to  do  it,"  remarked  my  mother.  ''Some 
women  are  made  so  that  they're  never  happy  except 
when  they're  hurt,  an'  she's  one  of  'em.  Why,  they 
can't  so  much  as  look  at  a  man  without  invitin'  him 
to  ill-treat  'em." 


THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN  23 

''Thar  ain't  many  women  that  know  how  to  deal 
with  a  husband  as  well  as  you  an'  Mrs.  Cudlip/'  re- 
marked Mrs.  Kidd,  with  delicate  flattery. 

'To'  Mrs.  Cudlip.  I  hope  she  is  bearin'  up/'  sighed 
my  mother.  '^'Twas  the  leg  he  lost  at  Seven  Pines 
—  wasn't  it?  —  that  supported  her?" 

''That  an'  the  cheers  he  bottomed.  The  last  work 
he  did,  po'  man,  was  for  Mrs.  Mickleborough  of  whom 
we  were  speakin'.  I  used  to  hear  of  her  befo'  the  war 
when  she  was  pretty  Miss  Sarah  Bland,  in  a  white 
poke  bonnet  with  pink  roses." 

''An'  now  never  a  day  passes,  they  say,  that  Harry 
Mickleborough  doesn't  threaten  to  turn  her  an'  the 
child  out  into  the  street." 

"Are  her  folks  still  livin'?  Why  doesn't  she  go 
back  to  them?" 

"Her  father  died  six  months  after  the  marriage,  an' 
the  rest  of  'em  live  up-town  somewhar.  The  only 
thing  that's  stuck  to  her  is  her  coloured  mammy, 
Aunt  Euphronasia,  an'  they  tell  me  that  that  old 
woman  has  mo'  influence  over  Harry  Mickleborough 
than  anybody  livin'.  When  he  gets  drunk  an'  goes 
into  one  of  his  tantrums  she  walks  right  up  to  him 
an'  humours  him  like  a  child." 

As  we  drove  on  their  voices  grew  gradually  muffled 
and  thin  in  my  ears,  and  after  a  minute,  in  which  I 
clung  desperately  to  my  eluding  consciousness,  my 
head  dropped  with  a  soft  thud  upon  Mrs.  Kidd's 
inviting  bosom.  The  next  instant  I  was  jerked  vio- 
lently erect  by  my  mother  and  ordered  sternly  to 
''keep  my  place  an'  not  to  make  myself  a  nuisance  by 
spreadin'  about."     With  this  admonition  in  my  ears, 


24  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

I  pinched  my  leg  and  sat  staring  with  heavy  eyes  out 
upon  the  quiet  street,  where  the  rolling  of  the  slow 
wheels  over  the  fallen  leaves  was  the  only  sound  that 
disturbed  the  silence.  After  ten  bitter  years  the  city 
was  still  bound  by  the  terrible  lethargy  which  had 
immediately  succeeded  the  war;  and  on  Church  Hill 
it, seemed  almost  as  if  we  had  been  forgotten  like  the 
breastworks  and  the  battle-fields  in  the  march  of 
progress.  The  grip  of  poverty,  which  was  fiercer  than 
the  grip  of  armies,  still  held  us,  and  the  few  stately 
houses  showed  tenantless  and  abandoned  in  the  midst 
of  their  ruined  gardens.  Sometimes  I  saw  an  old 
negress  in  a  coloured  turban  come  out  upon  one  of 
the  long  porches  and  stare  after  us,  her  pipe  in  her 
mouth  and  her  hollowed  palm  screening  her  eyes ;  and 
once  a  noisy  group  of  young  mulattoes  emerged  from 
an  alley  and  followed  us  curiously  for  a  few  blocks 
along  the  sidewalk. 

Withdrawing  my  gaze  from  the  window,  I  looked 
enviously  at  Mrs.  Boxley,  who  snored  gently  in  her 
corner.  Then  for  the  second  time  sleep  overpowered 
me,  and  in  spite  of  my  struggles,  I  sank  again  on  Mrs. 
Kidd's  bosom. 

''Thar,  now,  don't  think  of  disturbin'  him,  Mrs. 
Starr.  He  ain't  the  least  bit  in  my  way.  I  can  look 
right  over  his  head/'  I  heard  murmured  over  me  as  I 
slid  blissfully  into  unconsciousness. 

What  happened  after  this  I  was  never  able  to 
remember,  for  when  I  came  clearly  awake  again,  we 
had  reached  our  door,  and  my  mother  was  shaking 
me  in  the  effort  to  make  me  stand  on  my  feet. 

''He's  gone  and  slept  through  the  whole  thing,"  she 


THE   ENCHANTED    GARDEN  25 

remarked  irritably  to  President,  while  I  stumbled  after 
them  across  the  pavement,  with  the  fringed  ends  of 
my  blanket  shawl  rustling  the  leaves. 

'^He's  too  little.  You  might  have  let  me  go,  ma,'' 
replied  President,  as  he  dragged  me,  sleepy  eyes, 
ruffled  flaxen  hair,  and  trailing  shawl  over  the  door- 
step. 

^'An'  you're  too  big,"  retorted  my  mother,  removing 
the  long  black  pins  from  her  veil,  and  holding  them 
in  her  mouth  while  she  carefully  smoothed  and  folded 
the  lengths  of  crape.  ^^  You  could  never  have  squeezed 
in  between  us,  an'  as  it  was  Mrs.  Kidd  almost  overlaid 
Benjy.  But  you  didn't  miss  much,"  she  hastened  to 
assure  him,  ^^I  declar'  I  thought  at  one  time  we'd 
never  get  on  it  all  went  so  slowly." 

Having  placed  her  bonnet  and  veil  in  the  tall  white 
bandbox  upon  the  table,  she  hurried  off  to  prepare  our 
dinner,  while  President  urged  me  in  an  undertone  to 
^'sham  sick"  that  afternoon  so  that  he  wouldn't  have 
to  take  me  out  for  an  airing  on  the  hill. 

^^But  I  want  to  go,"  I  responded  selfishly,  wide 
awake  at  the  prospect.  ^^I  want  to  see  the  old  Adams 
house  where  the  little  girl  lives." 

'^If  you  go  I  can't  play  checkers,  an'  it's  downright 
mean.  What  do  you  care  about  little  girls?  They 
ain't  any  good." 

'^But  this  little  girl  has  got  a  drunken  father." 

^^Well,  you  won't  see  him  anyway,  so  what  is  the 
use?" 

^^She  lives  in  a  big  house  an'  it's  got  a  big  garden 
—  as  big  as  that!"  I  streched  out  my  arms  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  impress  his  imagination^  but  he  merely 


26  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

looked  scornful  and  swore  a  mighty  vow  that  he'd  '^be 
jiggered  if  he'd  keep  on  playin'  nurse-girl  to  a  muff." 

At  the  time  he  put  my  pleading  sternly  aside,  but  a 
couple  of  hours  later,  when  the  afternoon  was  already 
waning,  he  relented  sufficiently  to  take  me  out  on  the 
ragged  hill,  which  was  covered  thickly  with  poke- 
berry,  yarrow,  and  stunted  sumach.  Before  our  feet 
the  ground  sank  gradually  to  the  sparkling  river,  and 
farther  away  I  could  see  the  silhouette  of  an  anchored 
vessel  etched  boldly  against  the  rosy  clouds  of  the 
sunset. 

As  I  stood  there,  holding  fast  to  his  hand,  in  the 
high  wind  that  blew  up  from  the  river,  a  stout  gentle- 
man, leaning  heavily  on  a  black  walking-stick,  with  a 
big  gold  knob  at  the  top,  came  panting  up  the  slope 
and  paused  beside  us,  with  his  eyes  on  the  western 
sky.  He  was  hale,  handsome,  and  ruddy-faced,  with 
a  bunch  of  iron-grey  whiskers  on  either  cheek,  and  a 
vivacious  and  merry  eye  which  seemed  to  catch  at  a 
tv/inkle  whenever  it  met  mine.  His  rounded  stomach 
was  spanned  by  a  massive  gold  watch-chain,  from 
which  dangled  a  bunch  of  seals  that  delighted  my 
childish  gaze. 

'^It's  a  fine  view,"  he  observed  pleasantly,  patting 
my  shoulder  as  if  I  were  in  some  way  responsible  for 
the  river,  the  anchored  vessel,  and  the  rosy  sunset. 
^^I  moved  up-town  as  soon  as  the  war  ended,  but  I 
still  manage  to  crawl  back  once  in  a  while  to  watch 
the  afterglow." 

''V/here  does  the  sun  go,"  I  asked,  ''when  it  slips 
way  down  there  on  the  other  side  of  the  river?" 

The  gentleman  smiled  benignly,  and  I  saw  from  his 


THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN  27 

merry  glance  that  he  did  not  share  my  mother's  hos- 
tility to  the  enquiring  mind. 

^^Well,  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  if  it  went  to  the 
wrong  side  of  the  world  for  little  boys  and  girls  over 
there  to  get  up  by/'  he  replied. 

^^May  I  go  there,  too,  when  I'm  big?" 

'^To  the  wrong  side  of  the  world?  You  may,  who 
knows?" 

^^Have  you  ever  been  there?     What  is  it  like?" 
.  ^^Not  yet,  not  yet,  but  there's  no  telling.     I've  been 
across  the   ocean,   though,   and  that's  pretty  far.     I 
went  once  in  a  ship  that  ran  through  the  blockade 
and  brought  in  a  cargo  of  Bibles." 

^^What  did  you  want  with  so  many  Bibles?  We've 
got  one.     It  has  gilt  clasps." 

^^Want  with  the  Bibles!  Why,  every  one  of  these 
Bibles,  my  boy,  may  have  saved  a  soul." 

'^Has  our  Bible  saved  a  soul?  An'  whose  soul  was 
it?  It  stays  on  our  centre  table,  an'  my  name's  in  it. 
I've  seen  it." 

^^Indeed!    and  what  may  your  name  be?" 

^^Ben  Starr.  That's  my  name.  What  is  yours? 
Is  yo'  name  in  the  Bible?  Does  everybody's  name 
have  to  be  in  the  Bible  if  they're  to  be  saved?  Who 
put  them  in  there?  W^as  it  God  or  the  angels?  If  I 
blot  my  name  out  can  I  still  go  to  heaven?  An'  if 
yours  isn't  in  there  will  you  have  to  be  damned? 
Have  you  ever  been  damned  an'  what  does  it  feel 
like?" 

^'Shut  up,  Benjy,  or  ma'll  wallop  you,"  growled 
President,  squeezing  my  hand  so  hard  that  I  cried 
aloud. 


28  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

''Ah,  he's  a  fine  boy,  a  promising  boy,  a  remarkable 
boy/'  observed  the  gentleman,  with  one  finger  in  his 
waistcoat  pocket.  ''Wouldn't  you  like  to  grow  up  and 
be  President,  my  enquiring  young  friend?" 

"No,  sir,  I'd  rather  be  God,"  I  replied,  shaking  my 
head. 

All  the  gentleman's  merry  grey  eyes  seemed  to  run 
to  sparkles. 

"Ah,  there's  nothing,  after  all,  like  the  true  Ameri- 
can spirit,"  he  said,  patting  my  shoulder.  Then  he 
laughed  so  heartily  that  his  gold-rimmed  eye-glasses 
fell  from  his  eyes  and  dangled  in  the  air  at  the  end  of 
a  silk  cord.  "I'm  afraid  your  aspiration  is  too  lofty 
for  my  help,"  he  said,  "but  if  you  should  happen  to 
grow  less  ambitious  as  you  grow  older,  then  remem- 
ber, please,  that  my  name  is  General  Bolingbroke." 

"Why,  you're  the  president  of  the  Great  South 
Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  sir!"  exclaimed  Presi- 
dent, admiring  and  embarrassed. 

The  General  sighed,  though  even  I  could  see  that 
this  simple  tribute  to  his  fame  had  not  left  him  un- 
moved. "Ten  years  ago  I  was  the  man  who  tried  to 
save  Johnston's  army,  and  to-day  I  am  only  a  railroad 
president,"  he  answered,  half  to  himself;  "times 
change  and  fames  change  almost  as  quickly.  When  all 
is  said,  however,  there  may  be  more  lasting  honour  in 
building  a  country's  trade  than  in  winning  a  battle. 
I'll  have  a  tombstone  some  day  and  I  want  written  on 
it,  'He  brought  help  to  the  sick  land  and  made  the 
cotton  flower  to  bloom  anew.'  My  name  is  General 
Bolingbroke,"  he  added,  with  his  genial  and  charming 
smile.     "You  will  not  forget  it?" 


THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN  29 

I  assured  him  that  I  should  not,  and  that  if  it  could 
be  done,  I'd  try  to  have  it  written  in  our  Bible  with 
gilt  clasps,  at  which  he  thanked  me  gravely  as  he 
shook  my  hand. 

''An'  I  think  now  I'd  rather  be  president  of  the 
Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  sir,"  I 
concluded. 

''Young  man,  I  fear  you're  with  the  wind,"  he  said, 
laughing,  and  added,  "I've  a  nephew  just  about  your 
age  and  at  least  a  head  shorter,  what  do  you  think  of 
that?" 

"Has  he  a  kite?"  I  enquired  eagerl}^  "I  have,  an' 
a  top  an'  ten  checkers  an'  a  big  balloon." 

"Have  you,  indeed?  Well,  my  poor  boy  is  not  so 
well  off,  I  regret  to  say.  But  don't  you  think  your 
prosperity  is  excessive  considering  the  impoverished 
condition  of  the  country?" 

The  big  words  left  me  gasping,  and  fearing  that  I 
had  been  too  boastful  for  politeness,  I  hastened  to  in- 
form him  that  "although  the  balloon  was  very  big,  it 
was  also  bu'sted,  which  made  a  difference." 

"Ah,  it  is,  is  it?     Well,  that  does  make  a  difference." 

"If  your  boy  hasn't  any  checkers  I'll  give  him  half 
of  mine,"  I  added  with  a  gulp. 

With  an  elaborate  flourish  the  General  drew  out  a 
stiffly  starched  pocket  handkerchief  and  blew  his  nose. 
"That's  a  handsome  offer  and  I'll  repeat  it  without 
fail,"  he  said. 

Then  he  shook  hands  again  and  marched  down  the 
hill  with  his  gold-headed  stick  tapping  the  ground. 

"Now  you'll  come  and  trot  home,  I  reckon,"  said 
President,  when  he  had  disappeared. 


30  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

But  the  spirit  of  revolt  had  lifted  its  head  within 
me,  for  through  a  cleft  in  the  future,  I  saw  myself 
already  as  the  president  of  the  Great  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  Railroad,  with  a  jingling  bunch  of  seals 
and  a  gold-headed  stick. 

''I  ain't  goin'  that  way,"  I  said,  '^I'm  goin'  home 
by  the  old  Adams  house  where  the  little  girl  lives." 

^^No,  you  ain't  either.     I'll  tell  ma  on  you." 

'^I  don't  care.  If  you  don't  take  me  home  by  the 
old  Adams  house,  you'll  have  to  carry  me  every  step 
of  the  way,  an'  I'll  make  myself  heavy." 

For  a  long  minute  President  wrinkled  his  brows  and 
thought  hard  in  silence.  Then  an  idea  appeared  to 
penetrate  his  slow  mind,  and  he  grasped  me  by  the 
shoulder  and  shook  me  until  I  begged  him  to  stop. 

''If  I  take  you  home  that  way  will  you  promise  to 
sham  sick  to-morrow,  so  I  shan't  have  to  bring  you 
out?" 

The  price  was  high,  but  swallowing  my  disappoint- 
ment I  met  it  squarely. 

''I  will  if  you'll  lift  me  an'  let  me  look  over  the  wall." 

''Hope  you  may  die?" 

"Hope  I  may  die." 

"Wall,  it  ain't  anything  to  see  but  jest  a  house," 
remarked  President,  as  I  held  out  my  hand,  "an' 
girls  ain't  worth  the  lookin'  at." 

"She  called  me  common,"  I  said,  soberly. 

"Oh,  shucks!"  retorted  President,  with  fine  scorn, 
and  we  said  no  more. 

Clinging  tightly  to  his  hand  I  trudged  the  short 
blocks  in  silence.  As  I  was  little,  and  he  was  very 
large  for  his  years,  it  w-as  with  difficulty  that  I  kept 


THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN  31 

pace  with  him;  but  by  taking  two  quick  steps  to  his 
single  slow  one,  I  managed  to  cover  the  same  distance 
in  almost  the  same  number  of  minutes.  He  was  a 
tall,  overgrown  boy,  very  fat  for  his  age,  with  a  foolish, 
large-featured  face  which  continued  to  look  sheepishly 
amiable  even  when  he  got  into  a  temper. 

'^Is  it  far,  President  ?^^  I  enquired  at  last  between 
panting  breaths. 

^^  There  ^tis,'^  he  answered,  pointing  with  his  free 
hand  to  a  fine  old  mansion,  with  a  broad  and  hos- 
pitable front,  from  which  the  curved  iron  railing  bent 
in  a  bright  bow  to  the  pavement.  It  was  the  one 
great  house  on  the  hill,  with  it«  spreading  wings,  its 
stuccoed  offices,  its  massive  white  columns  at  the 
rear,  which  presided  solemnly  over  the  terraced  hill- 
side. A  moment  later  he  led  me  up  to  the  high, 
spiked  wall,  and  swung  me  from  the  ground  to  a 
secure  perch  on  his  shoulder.  With  my  hands  cling- 
ing to  the  iron  nails  that  studded  the  wall,  I  looked 
over,  and  then  caught  my  breath  sharply  at  the 
thought  that  I  was  gazing  upon  an  enchanted  garden. 
Through  the  interlacing  elm  boughs  the  rosy  light 
of  the  afterglow  fell  on  the  magnolias  and  laburnums, 
on  the  rose  squares,  and  on  the  tall  latticed  arbours, 
where  amid  a  glossy  bowser  of  foliage,  a  few  pale 
microphylla  roses  bloomed  out  of  season.  Overhead 
the  wind  stirred,  and  one  by  one  the  small  yellow 
leaves  drifted,  like  wounded  butterflies,  down  on  the 
box  hedges  and  the  terraced  walks. 

^^You\^e  got  to  come  down  now  —  you're  too 
heavy,"  said  President  from  below,  breathing  hard  as 
he  held  me  up. 


32  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^  Jest  a  minute  —  give  me  a  minute  longer  an'  Fll 
let  you  eat  my  blackberry  jam  at  supper/' 

^'An'  youVe  promised  on  yo'  life  to  sham  sick  to- 
morrow?'' 

^^I'll  sham  sick  an'  I'll  let  you  eat  my  jam,  too,  if 
you'll  hold  me  a  little  longer." 

He  lifted  me  still  higher,  and  clutching  desperately 
to  the  iron  spikes,  I  hung  there  quivering,  breathless, 
with  a  thumping  heart.  A  glimmer  of  white  flitted 
between  the  box  rows  on  a  lower  terrace,  and  I  saw 
that  the  princess  of  the  enchanted  garden  was  none 
other  than  my  little  girl  of  the  evening  before.  She 
was  playing  quietly  by  herself  in  a  bower  of  box, 
building  small  houses  of  moss  and  stones,  which  she 
erected  with  infinite  patience.  So  engrossed  was  she 
in  her  play  that  she  seemed  perfectly  oblivious  of  the 
fading  light  and  of  the  birds  and  squirrels  that  ran 
past  her  to  their  homes  in  the  latticed  arbours.  Higher 
and  higher  rose  her  houses  of  moss  and  stones,  while 
she  knelt  there,  patient  and  silent,  in  the  terrace 
walk  with  the  small,  yellow  leaves  falling  around  her. 

^^ That's  a  square  deal  now,"  said  President,  drop- 
ping me  suddenly  to  earth.  ^^  You'd  better  come 
along  and  trot  home  or  you'll  get  a  lamming." 

My  enchanted  garden  had  vanished,  the  spiked  wall 
rose  over  my  head,  and  before  me,  as  I  turned  home- 
ward, spread  all  the  familiar  commonplaceness  of 
Church  Hm. 

''How  long  will  it  be  befo'  I  can  climb  up  by  my- 
self?" I  asked. 

''When  you  grow  up.     You're  nothin'  but  a  kid." 

"An'  when'U  I  grow  up  if  I  keep  on  fast?" 


THE   ENCHANTED   GAKDEN  33 

''Oh,  in  ten  or  fifteen  years,  I  reckon."  ^^ 

'^ Shan't  I  be  big  enough  to  climb  up  befo'  then?    ^ 
'^Look  here,   you   shut  up!      I'm  tired   answenn 
questions,"   shouted   my  elder  brother,  and   graspmg 
his  hand  I  trotted  in  a  depressed  sUence  back  to  our 
little  home. 


CHAPTER    III 

A  PAIR  OF  RED  SHOES 

I  AWOKE  the  next  morning  a  changed  creature  from 
the  one  who  had  fallen  asleep  in  my  trundle-bed.  In 
a  single  hour  I  had  awakened  to  the  sharp  sense  of 
contrast,  to  the  knowledge  that  all  ways  of  life  were 
not  confined  to  the  sordid  circle  in  which  I  lived. 
Outside  the  poverty,  the  ugliness,  the  narrow  streets, 
rose  the  spiked  wall  of  the  enchanted  garden ;  and  when 
I  shut  my  eyes  tight,  I  could  see  still  the  half-bared 
elms  arching  against  the  sunset,  and  the  old  house 
beyond,  with  its  stuccoed  wings  and  its  grave  white 
columns,  which  looked  down  on  the  magnolias  and 
laburnums  just  emerging  from  the  twilight  on  the 
lower  terrace.  In  the  midst  of  this  garden  I  saw  always 
the  little  girl  patiently  building  her  houses  of  moss  and 
stones,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  hardly  live 
through  the  days  until  I  grew  strong  enough  to  leap 
the  barriers  and  play  beside  her  in  the  bower  of  box. 

•^^Ma,^'  I  asked,  measuring  myself  against  the  red 
and  white  cloth  on  the  table,  ^^does  it  look  to  you  as 
if  I  were  growin'  up  ? '' 

The  air  was  strong  with  the  odour  of  frying  bacon, 
and  when  my  mother  turned  to  answer  me,  she  held 
a  smoking  skillet  extended  like  a  votive  offering  in 
her  right  hand.     She  was  busy  preparing  breakfast  for 

34 


A  PAIR   OF   RED   SHOES  35 

Mrs.  Cudlip,  whose  husband's  funeral  we  had  attended 
the  day  before,  and  as  usual  when  any  charitable  mis- 
sion was  under  way,  her  manner  to  my  father  and 
myself  had  taken  a  biting  edge. 

''Don't  talk  foolishness,  Benjy,"  she  replied,  stopping 
to  push  back  a  loosened  wiry  lock  of  hair;  ''it's  time 
to  think  about  growin'  up  when  you  ain't  been  but 
two  years  in  breeches.  Here,  if  you're  through  break- 
fast, I  want  you  to  step  with  this  plate  of  muffins  to 
Mrs.  Cudlip.  Tell  her  I  sent  'em  an'  that  I  hope  she 
is  bearin'  up." 

"That  you  sent  'em  an'  that  you  hope  she  is  bearin' 
up,"  I  repeated. 

"That's  it  now.  Don't  forget  what  I  told  you 
befo'  you're  there.  Thomas,  have  you  buttered  that 
batch  of  muffins?" 

My  father  handed  me  the  plate,  which  was  neatly 
covered  w^ith  a  red-bordered  napkin. 

"Did  you  tell  me  to  lay  a  slice  of  middlin'  along  side 
of  'em,  Susan?"  he  humbly  enquired. 

Without  replying  to  him  in  words,  my  mother  seized 
the  plate  from  me,  and  lifting  the  napkin,  removed  the 
offending  piece  of  bacon,  which  she  replaced  in  the 
dish. 

"I  thought  even  you,  Thomas,  would  have  had  mo' 
feelin'  than  to  send  middlin'  to  a  widow  the  day  arter 
she  has  buried  her  husband  —  even  a  one-legged  one ! 
Middlin'  indeed !  One  egg  an'  that  soft  boiled,  will 
be  as  near  a  solid  as  she'll  touch  for  a  week.  Keep 
along,  Benjy,  an'  be  sure  to  say  just  what'  I  told 
you." 

I  did  my  errand  quickly,  and  returning,  asked  eagerly 


36  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

if  I  might  go  out  all  by  myself  an'  play  for  an  hour. 
'^I'U  stay  close  in  the  churchyard  if  you'll  lemme  go/' 
I  entreated. 

^^Run  along  then  for  a  little  while,  but  if  you  go  out 
of  the  churchyard,  you'll  get  a  whippin',"  replied  my 
mother. 

With  this  threat  ringing  like  a  bell  in  my  ears,  I 
left  the  house  and  walked  quickly  along  the  narrow 
pavement  to  where,  across  the  wide  street,  I  discerned 
the  white  tower  and  belfry  which  had  been  added  by 
a  later  century  to  the  parish  church  of  Saint  John. 
Overhead  there  was  a  bright  blue  sky,  and  the  October 
sunshine,  filtering  through  the  bronzed  network  of 
sycamore  and  poplar,  steeped  the  flat  tombstones  and 
the  crumbling  brick  vaults  in  a  clear  golden  light. 
The  church  stood  upon  a  moderate  elevation  above  the 
street,  and  I  entered  it  now  by  a  short  flight  of  steps, 
which  led  to  a  grassy  walk  that  did  not  end  at  the 
closed  door,  but  continued  to  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
where  a  few  scattered  slabs  stood  erect  as  sentinels 
over  the  river  banks.  For  a  moment  I  stood  among 
them,  watching  the  blue  haze  of  the  opposite  shore; 
then  turning  away  I  rolled  over  on  my  back  and  lay 
at  full  length  in  the  periwinkle  that  covered  the  ground. 
From  beyond  the  church  I  could  hear  Uncle  Methusalah, 
the  negro  caretaker,  raking  the  dead  leaves  from  the 
graves,  and  here  and  there  among  the  dark  boles  of 
the  trees  there  appeared  presently  thin  bluish  spirals 
of  smoke.  The  old  negro's  figure  was  still  hidden,  but 
as  his  rake  stirred  the  smouldering  piles,  I  could  smell 
the  sharp  sweet  odour  of  the  burning  leaves.  Some- 
times a  wren  or  a  sparrow  fluttered    in    and  out  of 


A   PAIR   OF   RED    SHOES  37 

the  periwinkle,  and  once  a  small  green  lizard  glided 
like  the  shadow  of  a  moving  leaf  over  a  tombstone. 
One  sleeper  among  them  I  came  to  regard,  as  I  grew 
somewhat  older,  almost  with  affection  —  not  only  be- 
cause he  was  young  and  a  soldier,  but  because  the  tall 
marble  slab  implored  me  to  ^Hread  lightly  upon  hig 
ashes/'  Not  once  during  the  many  hours  when  I 
played  in  the  churchyard,  did  I  forget  myself  and  run 
over  the  sunken  grave  where  he  lay. 

The  sound  of  the  moving  rake  passed  the  church 
door  and  drew  nearer,  and  the  grey  head  of  Uncle 
Methusalah  appeared  suddenly  from  behind  an  ivied 
tree  trunk.  Sitting  up  in  the  periwinkle,  I  watched 
him  heap  the  coloured  leaves  around  me  into  a  brilliant 
pile,  and  then  bending  over  hold  a  small  flame  close 
to  the  curling  ends.  The  leaves,  still  moist  from  the 
rain,  caught  slowly,  and  smouldered  in  a  scented  cloud 
under  the  trees. 

^^Dis  yer  trash  ain^  gwine  ter  bu'n  twel  hit's  smoked 
out,''  he  remarked  in  a  querulous  voice. 

^' Uncle  Methusalah,"  I  asked,  springing  up,  ^^how 
old  are  you?" 

With  a  leisurely  movement,  he  dragged  his  rake 
over  the  walk,  and  then  bringing  it  to  rest  at  his  feet, 
leaned  his  clasped  hands  on  the  end  of  it,  and  looked 
at  me  over  the  burning  leaves.  He  wore  an  old, 
tightly  fitting  army  coat  of  Union  blue,  bearing  tar- 
nished gold  epaulets  upon  the  shoulders,  and  around  his 
throat  a  red  bandanna  handkerchief  was  wrapped 
closely  to  keep  out  the  '^ chills." 

^^Gaud-a-moughty,  honey!"  he  replied,  ^'I'se  so  ole 
dat  I'se  done  clean  furgit  ter  count." 


38  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'I  reckon  you  knew  almost  everybody  that's  buried 
here^  didn't  you?" 

^^Mos'  un  um,  chile,  but  I  ain't  knowed  near  ez  many 
ez  my  ole  Marster.  He  done  shuck  hans  w'en  he  wuz 
live  wid  um  great  en  small.  I'se  done  hyern  'im  tell  in 
my  time  how  he  shuck  de  han'  er  ole  Marse  Henry  right 
over  dar  in  dat  ar  church." 

^'Who  was  ole  Marse  Henry?"  I  enquired. 

'^I  dunnO;  honey,  caze  he  died  afo'  my  day,  but  he 
mus'  hev  done  a  powerful  heap  er  talkin'  while  he  wuz 
'live." 

''Whom  did  he  talk  to,  Uncle  Methusalah?" 

''Ter  hisself  mostly,  I  reckon,  caze  you  know  folks 
ain'  got  time  al'ays  ter  be  lisen'in'.  But  hit  wuz  en 
dish  yer  church  dat  he  stood  up  en  ax  'em  please  ter 
gin  'im  liberty  er  ter  gin  'im  deaf." 

''An'  which  did  they  give  him.  Uncle?" 

"Wall,  honey,  ez  fur  ez  I  recollect  de  story  dey  gun 
'im  bofe." 

Bending  over  in  his  old  blue  army  coat  with  the 
tarnished  epaulets,  he  prodded  the  pile  of  leaves,  where 
the  scented  smoke  hung  low  in  a  cloud.  The  wind 
stirred  softly  in  the  grass,  and  a  small  flame  ran  along 
a  bent  twig  of  maple  to  a  single  scarlet  leaf  at  the  end. 

"Did  they  give  'em  to  him  because  he  talked  too 
much?"  I  asked. 

"I  ain'  never  hyern  ner  better  reason,  chile.  Folks 
cyarn'  stan'  too  much  er  de  gab  nohow,  en'  dey  sez 
dat  he  'ouldn't  let  up,  but  kep'  up  sech  a  racket  dat 
dey  couldn't  git  ner  sleep.  Den  at  las'  ole  King  George 
over  dar  in  England  sent  de  hull  army  clear  across  de 
water  jes'  ter  shet  his  mouf." 


A   PAIR   OF    RED   SHOES  39 

'^An'  did  he  shut  it?'' 

*'Dat's  all  er  hit  dat  I  ever  hyern  tell,  boy,  but  ef'n 
you  don'  quit  axin'  folks  questions  day  in  en  day  out, 
he'll  send  all  de  way  over  yer  agin'  jes'  ter  shet 
yourn." 

He  went  off,  gathering  the  leaves  into  another  pile  at 
a  little  distance,  and  after  a  moment  I  followed  him 
and  stood  with  my  back  against  a  high  brick  vault. 

''Is  there  any  way.  Uncle  Methusalah,  that  you  can 
grow  up  befo'  yo'  time?"  I  asked. 

''Dar  'tis  agin!"  exclaimed  the  old  negro,  but  he 
added  kindly  enough,  ''Dey  tell  me  you  kin  do  hit  by 
stretchin',  chile,  but  I  ain'  never  seed  hit  wid  my  eyes, 
en  w'at  I  ain'  seed  wid  my  eyes  I  ain'  set  much  sto^ 
by." 

His  scepticism,  however,  honest  as  it  was,  did  not 
prevent  my  seizing  upon  the  faint  hope  he  offered, 
and  I  had  just  begun  to  stretch  myself  violently  against 
the  vault,  when  a  voice  speaking  at  my  back  brought 
my  heels  suddenly  to  the  safe  earth  again. 

''Boy,"  said  the  voice,  "do  you  want  a  dog?" 

Turning  quickly  I  found  myself  face  to  face  with  the 
princess  of  the  enchanted  garden.  She  wore  a  fresh 
white  coat  and  a  furry  white  cap  and  a  pair  of  red 
shoes  that  danced  up  and  down.  In  her  hand  she 
carried  a  dirty  twine  string,  the  other  end  of  w^hich 
was  tied  about  the  neck  of  a  miserable  grey  and  white 
mongrel  puppy. 

"Do  you  want  a  dog,  boy?"  she  repeated,  as  proudly 
as  if  she  offered  a  canine  prize. 

The  puppy  was  ugly,  ill-bred,  and  dirty,  but  not  an 
instant  did  I  hesitate  in  the  response  I  made. 


40  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'Yes,  I  want  a  dog/'  I  answered  as  gravely  as  she 
had  spoken. 

She  held  out  the  string  and  my  fist  closed  tightly 
over  it.  ^^I  found  him  in  the  gutter/'  she  explained, 
^^and  I  gave  him  a  plate  of  bread  and  milk  because  he 
is  so  3^oung.  Grandmama  wouldn't  let  me  keep  him, 
as  I  have  three  others.  I  think  it  was  very  cruel  of 
grandmama." 

^^I  may  keep  him/'  I  responded,  ^^I  ain't  got  any 
grandmama.     I'll  let  him  sleep  in  my  bed." 

^^You  must  give  him  a  bath  first/'  she  said,  ^'and 
put  him  by  the  fire  to  dry.  They  wouldn't  let  me  bring 
him  mto  our  house,  but  yours  is  such  a  little  one  that 
it  will  hardly  matter." 

At  this  my  pride  dropped  low.  ^'You  live  in  the 
great  big  house  with  the  high  wall  around  the  garden," 
I  returned  wistfully. 

She  nodded,  drawing  back  a  step  or  two  with  a  quaint 
little  air  of  dignity,  and  twisting  a  tassel  on  her  coat 
in  and  out  of  her  fingers,  which  were  encased  in  white 
crocheted  mittens.  The  only  touch  of  colour  about 
her  was  made  by  her  small  red  shoes. 

^^I  haven't  lived  there  long,  and  I  remember  where 
we  came  from  —  way  —  away  from  here,  over  yonder 
across  the  river."  She  lifted  her  hand  and  pointed 
across  the  brick  vault  to  the  distant  blue  on  the  op- 
posite shore  of  the  James.  ^'I  liked  it  over  there 
because  it  was  the  country  and  we  lived  by  ourselves, 
mamma  and  I.  She  taught  me  to  knit  and  I  knitt-ed 
a  whole  shawl  —  as  big  as  that  —  for  grandmama. 
Then  papa  came  and  took  us  away,  but  now  he  has 
gone  and  left  us  again,  and  I  am  glad.     I  hope  he  will 


A   PAIR   OF    RED    SHOES  41 

never  come  back  because  he  is  so  very  bad  and  I  don't 
like  him.     Mamma  likes  him,  but  I  don't.'' 

^^May  I  play  with  you  in  your  garden?"  I  asked 
when  she  had  finished;  ''I'd  like  to  play  with  you  an' 
I  know  ever  so  many  nice  ways  to  play  that  I  made 
up  out  of  my  head." 

She  looked  at  me  gravely  and,  I  thought,  regretfully. 

''You  can't  because  you're  common,"  she  answered. 
^'It's  a  great  pity.  I  don't  really  mind  it  myself," 
she  added  gently,  seeing  my  downcast  face,  "I'd  just 
every  bit  as  lief  play  with  you  as  not  —  a  little  bit  — 
—  but  grandmama  wouldn't — " 

"But  I  don't  want  to  play  with  your  grandmama," 
I  returned,  on  the  point  of  tears. 

"Well,  you  might  come  sometimes — not  very  often," 
she  said  at  last,  with  a  sympathetic  touch  on  my  sleeve, 
"an'  you  must  come  to  the  side  gate  where  grandmama 
won't  see  you.  I'll  let  you  in  an'  mamma  will  not 
mind.  But  you  mustn't  come  often,"  she  concluded 
in  a  sterner  tone,  "only  once  or  twice,  so  that  there 
won't  be  any  danger  of  my  growin'  like  you.  It  would 
hurt  grandmama  dreadfully  if  I  were  ever  to  grow  like 
you." 

She  paused  a  moment,  and  then  began  dancing  up 
and  down  in  her  red  shoes  over  the  coloured  leaves. 
"I'd  like  to  play  —  play  —  play  all  the  time!"  she 
sang,  whirling,  a  vivid  little  figure,  around  the  crum- 
bling vault. 

The  next  minute  she  caught  up  the  puppy  in  her  arms 
and  hugged  him  passionately  before  she  turned  away. 

"His  name  is  Samuel!"  she  called  back  over  her 
shoulder  as  she  ran  out  of  the  churchyard. 


42  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

When  she  had  gone  down  the  short  flight  of  steps  and 
into  the  wide  street,  I  tucked  Samuel  under  my  arm, 
and  lugged  him,  not  without  inward  misgivings,  into 
the  kitchen,  where  my  mother  stood  at  the  ironing- 
board,  with  one  foot  on  the  rocker  of  Jessy^s  cradle. 

^^Ma,''  I  began  in  a  faltering  and  yet  stubborn  voice, 
^'IVe  got  a  pup.'' 

My  mother's  foot  left  the  rocker,  and  she  turned 
squarely  on  me,  with  a  smoking  iron  half  poised  above 
the  garment  she  had  just  sprinkled  on  the  board. 

^'^Whar  did  he  come  from?"  she  demanded,  and 
moistened  the  iron  with  the  thumb  of  her  free  hand. 

^'I  got  him  in  the  churchyard.     His  name  is  Samuel." 

For  a  moment  she  stared  at  the  two  of  us  in  a  stony 
silence.  Then  her  face  twitched  as  if  with  pain,  the 
perplexed  and  anxious  look  appeared  in  her  eyes,  and 
her  mouth  relaxed. 

^'Wall,  he's  ugly  enough  to  be  named  Satan,"  she 
said, '^  but  I  reckon  if  you  want  to  you  may  put  him  in 
a  box  in  the  back  yard.  Give  him  that  cold  sheep's 
liver  in  the  safe  and  then  you  come  straight  in  and 
comb  yo'  head.  It  looks  for  all  the  world  like  a  tou- 
sled straw  stack." 

All  the  afternoon  I  sat  in  our  little  sitting-room,  and 
faithful  to  my  promise,  shammed  sickness,  w^hile 
Samuel  lay  in  his  box  in  the  back  yard  and  howled. 

''I'll  have  that  dog  taken  up  the  first  thing  in  the 
mornin',"  declared  my  mother  furiously,  as  she  cleared 
the  supper  table. 

''I  reckon  he's  lonely  out  thar,  Susan,"  urged  my 
father,  observing  my  trembling  mouth,  and  eager, 
as  usual,  to  put  a  pacific  face  on  the  moment. 


A  PAIR   OF   RED    SHOES  43 

'^Lonely,  indeed!  I'm  lonely  in  here^  but  I  don't 
set  up  a  howlin'.  Thar're  mighty  few  folks,  be  they 
dogs  or  humans,  that  get  all  the  company  they  want 
in  life." 

Once  I  crept  out  into  the  darkness,  and  hugging 
Samuel  around  his  dirty  stomach  besought  him,  with 
tears,  to  endure  his  lot  in  silence ;  but  though  he  licked 
my  face  rapturously  at  the  time,  I  had  no  sooner 
entered  the  house  than  his  voice  was  lifted  anew. 

^^To  think  of  po'  Mrs.  Cudlip  havin^  to  mourn  in  all 
that  noise,"  commented  my  mother,  as  I  undressed  and 
got  into  my  trundle-bed. 

My  pillow  was  quite  moist  before  I  went  to  sleep, 
while  my  mother^s  loud  threats  against  Samuel  sounded 
from  the  other  side  of  the  room  with  each  separate 
garment  that  she  laid  on  the  chair  at  the  foot  of  her 
bed.  In  sheer  desperation  at  last  I  pulled  the  cover 
over  my  ears  in  an  effort  to  shut  out  her  thin,  querulous 
tones.  At  the  instant  I  felt  that  I  was  wicked  enough 
to  wish  that  I  had  been  born  without  any  mother,  and 
I  asked  myself  how^  she  w^ould  like  it  if  I  raised  as  great 
a  fuss  about  baby  Jessy's  crying  as  she  did  about 
Samuel's  —  w^ho  didn't  make  one-half  the  noise. 

Here  the  light  went  out,  and  I  fell  asleep,  to  awaken 
an  hour  or  two  later  because  of  the  candle  flash  in  my 
eyes.  In  the  centre  of  the  room  my  mother  was  stand- 
ing in  her  grey  dressing-gown,  with  a  shawl  over  her 
head  and  the  rapturously  wriggling  body  of  Samuel 
in  her  arms.  Too  amazed  to  utter  an  exclamation, 
I  watched  her  silently  while  she  made  a  bed  with  an 
old  flannel  petticoat  before  the  waning  fire.  Then  I 
saw  her  bend  over  and  pat  the  head  of  the  puppy  with 


44  THE   ivOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

her  knotted  hand  before  she  crept  noiselessly  back  to 
bed. 

At  this  day  I  see  her  figure  as  distinctly  as  I  saw  it 
that  instant  by  the  candle  flame  —  her  soiled  grey 
wrapper  clutched  over  her  flat  bosom;  her  sallow, 
sharp-featured  face,  with  bluish  hollows  in  the  temples 
over  which  her  sparse  hair  strayed  in  locks ;  her  thin, 
stooping  shoulders  under  the  knitted  shawl ;  her  sad, 
flint-coloured  eyes,  holding  always  that  anxious  look 
as  if  she  were  trying  to  remember  some  important 
thing  which  she  had  half  forgotten. 

So  she  appeared  to  my  startled  gaze  for  a  single 
minute.  Then  the  light  went  out,  she  faded  into  the 
darkness,  and  I  fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN   WHICH   I   PLAY   IN   THE    ENCHANTED   GARDEN 

For  the  next  two  years,  when  my  mother  sent  me 
on  errands  to  McKenney^s  grocery  store,  or  for  a  pitcher 
of  milk  to  old  Mrs.  Triffit's,  who  kept  a  fascinating 
green  parrot  hanging  under  an  arbour  of  musk  cluster 
roses,  it  was  my  habit  to  run  five  or  six  blocks  out  of 
my  way,  and  measure  my  growing  height  against  the 
wall  of  the  enchanted  garden.  On  the  worn  bricks, 
unless  they  have  crumbled  away,  there  may  still  be 
seen  the  scratches  from  my  penknife,  by  which  I 
tried  to  persuade  myself  that  each  rapidly  passing 
week  marked  a  visible  increase  in  my  stature.  Though 
I  was  a  big  boy  for  my  age,  the  top  of  my  straw-coloured 
hair  reached  barely  halfway  up  the  spiked  wall;  and 
standing  on  my  tiptoes  my  hands  still  came  far  below 
the  grim  iron  teeth  at  the  top.  Yet  I  continued  to 
measure  myself,  week  by  week,  against  the  barrier, 
until  at  last  the  zigzag  scratches  from  my  knife  began 
to  cover  the  bricks. 

It  was  on  a  warm  morning  in  spring  during  my 
ninth  year,  that,  while  I  stood  vigorously  scraping  the 
wall  over  my  head,  I  heard  a  voice  speaking  in  in- 
dignant tones  at  my  back. 

'^You  bad  boy,  what  are  you  doing?''  it  said. 

Wheeling  about,  I  stood  again  face  to  face  with  the 

45 


46  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

little  girl  of  the  red  shoes  and  the  dancing  feet.  Except 
for  her  shoes  she  was  dressed  all  in  white  just  as  I  had 
last  seen  her,  and  this  time,  I  saw  with  disgust,  she 
held  a  whining  and  sickly  kitten  clasped  to  her  breast. 

'^I  know  you  are  doing  something  you  ought  not  to/' 
she  repeated,  ^^what  is  it?'' 

^^Nothink,"  I  responded,  and  stared  at  her  red  shoes 
like  one  possessed. 

^^Then  why  were  you  crawling  so  close  along  the  wall 
to  keep  me  from  seeing  you?" 

''I  wa'nt." 

''You  wa'nt  what?" 

''I  wa'nt  crawlin'  along  the  wall;  I  was  just  tryin'  to 
look  in,"  I  answered  defiantly. 

An  old  negro  ^^ mammy,"  in  a  snowy  kerchief  and 
apron,  appeared  suddenly  around  the  corner  near 
which  we  stood,  and  made  a  grab  at  the  child's  shoulder. 

'^You  jes  let  'im  alont,  honey,  en  he  ain'  gwine  hu't 
you,"  she  said. 

''He  won't  hurt  me  anyway,"  replied  the  little  girl, 
as  if  I  w^ere  a  suspicious  strange  dog,  "I'm  not  afraid 
of  him." 

Then  she  made  a  step  forward  and  held  the  whining 
grey  kitten  toward  me. 

"Don't  you  want  a  cat, boy  ?"  she  asked, in  a  coaxing 
tone. 

My  hands  flew  to  my  back,  and  the  only  reason  I  did 
not  retreat  before  her  determined  advance  was  that 
I  could  hardly  retreat  into  a  brick  wall. 

"I've  just  found  it  in  the  alley  a  minute  ago,"  she 
explained.  "It's  very  little.  I'd  like  to  keep  it,  only 
I've  got  six  already." 


IX   ^YHICH   I   PLAY   IX    THE   GARDEN  47 

''I  don't  like  cats/'  I  replied  stubbornly;  shaking 
my  head.  ''I  saw  Peter  Finn's  dog  kill  one.  He  shook 
it  by  the  neck  till  it  was  dead.  I'm  goin'  to  train  my 
dog  to  kill  'eni;  too." 

Raising  herself  on  the  toes  of  her  red  shoes,  she  bent 
upon  me  a  look  so  scorching  that  it  might  have  burned 
a  passage  straight  through  me  into  the  bricks. 

'^I  knew  you  were  a  horrid  bad  boy.  You  looked 
it !"  she  cried. 

At  this  I  saw  in  my  imagination  the  closed  gate  of 
the  enchanted  garden^  and  my  budding  sportsman's 
proclivities  withered  in  the  white  blaze  of  her  wrath. 

^^I  don't  reckon  I'll  train  him  to  catch  'em  by  the 
back  of  thar  necks/'  I  hastened  to  add. 

At  this  she  turned  toward  me  again,  her  whole  vivid 
little  face  with  its  red  mouth  and  arched  black  eyebrows 
inspired  by  a  solemn  purpose. 

^^If  you'll  promise  never,  never  to  kill  a  cat,  I'll 
let  you  come  into  the  garden  —  for  a  minute,"  she 
said. 

I  hesitated  for  an  instant,  dazzled  by  the  prospect 
and  yet  bargaining  for  better  terms.  ^^Will  you  let  me 
walk  under  the  arbours  and  down  all  the  box-bordered 
paths?" 

She  nodded.     '^Just  once,"  she  responded  gravely. 

^^  An'  may  I  play  under  the  trees  on  the  terrace  where 
you  built  yo'  houses  of  moss  and  stones?" 

^'For  a  little  while.  But  I  can't  play  with  you,  be- 
cause—  because  you  don't  look  clean." 

My  heart  sank  like  lead  to  my  waist  line,  and  I  looked 
down  ashamed  at  my  dirty  hands. 

I  —  I'd  rather  play  with  you,"  I  faltered. 


a 


48  THE   ROMAXCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'Fur  de  Lawd's  sake,  honey,  come  in  en  let  dat  ar 
gutter  limb  alont/^  exclaimed  the  old  negress,  wagging 
her  turbaned  head. 

'^Well,  I'U  tell  you  what  I'll  do/'  said  her  charge, 
after  a  deep  moment;  ^^I'll  let  you  play  with  me  for  a 
little  while  if  you'll  take  the  cat/' 

^^But  I  ain't  got  any  use  for  it,"  I  stammered. 

^^Take  it  home  for  a  pet.  Grandmama  won't  let 
any  more  come  on  the  place.  She's  very  cruel  is 
grandmama,  isn't  she,  mammy?" 

''Go  way,  chile,  dar  ain'  nobody  dat  'ould  want  all 
dem  ar  critters,"  rejoined  the  old  negress. 

^' I  do,"  said  the  little  giri,  and  sighed  softly. 

''I'll  take  it  home  with  me,"  I  began  desperately  at 
last,  "if  you'll  let  me  play  with  you  the  whole  evening." 

"And  take  you  into  the  house?" 

"An'  take  me  into  the  house,"  I  repeated  doggedly. 

Her  glance  brushed  me  from  head  to  foot,  Vr^hile  I 
writhed  under  it.  "I  wonder  why  you  don't  wash 
your  face,"  she  observed  in  her  cool,  impersonal 
manner. 

I  fell  back  a  step  and  stared  defiantly  at  the  ground. 

"I  ain't  got  any  water,"  I  answered,  driven  to  bay. 

"I  think  if  you'd  wash  it  ever  so  hard  and  brush 
your  hair  flat  on  your  head,  you'd  look  very  nice  — 
for  a  boy,"  she  remarked.  "I  like  your  eyes  because 
they're  blue,  and  I  have  a  dog  with  blue  eyes  exactly 
like  yours.  Did  you  ever  see  a  blue-eyed  dog?  He's 
a  collie.  But  your  hair  stands  always  on  end  and  it's 
the  colour  of  straw." 

"It  growed  that  way,"  I  returned.  "You  can't 
get  it  to  be  flat.     Ma  has  tried." 


IN   WHICH   I   PLAY   IN   THE   GARDEN  49 

''I  bet  I  could,"  she  rejoined,  and  caught  at  the  old 
woman's  hand.  ^^This  is  my  mammy  an'  her  name  is 
Euphronasia,  an'  she's  got  blue  eyes  an'  golden  hair," 
she  cried,  beginning  to  dance  up  and  down  in  her  red 
shoes. 

'^Gawd  erlive,  lamb,  I'se  ez  black  ez  a  crow's  foot," 
protested  the  old  woman,  at  which  the  dance  of  the 
red  shoes  changed  into  a  stamp  of  anger. 

^*You  aren't!  —  You  aren't!  You've  got  blue  eyes 
an'  golden  hair!"  screamed  the  child.  ^^I  won't  let 
you  say  you  haven't,  —  I  won't  let  anybody  say  you 
haven't!''' 

It  took  a  few  minutes  to  pacify  her,  during  which  the 
old  negress  perjured  herself  to  the  extent  of  declaring 
on  her  word  of  honour  that  she  had  blue  eyes  and 
golden  hair;  and  when  the  tem.per  of  her  ^4amb" 
w^as  appeased,  w^e  turned  the  corner,  approached  the 
front  of  the  house,  and  ascended  the  bright  bow  of 
steps.  As  we  entered  the  wide  hall,  my  heart  thumped 
so  \'iolently  that  I  hurriedly  buttoned  my  coat  lest 
the  little  giri  should  hear  the  sound  and  turn  indig- 
nantly to  accuse  me  of  disturbing  the  peace.  Then 
as  the  front  door  closed  softly  behind  us,  I  stood  blink- 
ing nervously  in  the  dim  green  light  which  entered 
through  the  row  of  columns  at  the  rear,  beyond  which  I 
saw  the  curving  stairway  and  the  two  miniature  yew 
trees  at  its  foot.  There  was  a  strange  musty  smell 
about  the  house  —  a  smell  that  brings  to  me  now, 
when  I  find  it  in  old  and  unlighted  buildings,  the 
memory  of  the  high  ceiling,  the  shining  floor  over  which 
I  moved  so  cautiously,  and  the  long  melancholy  rows 
of  moth-eaten  stags'  heads  upon  the  wall. 


50  THE    ROMAXGE    OF    A   PLAIX   MAN 

A  door  at  the  far  end  was  half  open,  and  inside  the 
room  there  were  two  ladies  —  one  of  them  very  little 
and  old  and  shrivelled;  and  the  other  a  pretty,  brown- 
haired,  pliant  creature,  whom  I  recognised  instantly 
as  our  visitor  of  that  stormy  October  evening  more 
than  two  years  ago.  She  was  reading  aloud  when  we 
entered,  in  a  voice  which  sounded  so  soft  and  pious  that 
I  w^ondered  if  I  ought  to  fold  my  hands  and  bow  my 
head  as  I  had  been  taught  to  do  in  the  infant  Sunday- 
school. 

'^Be  careful  not  to  mush  your  words,  Sarah;  the 
habit  is  growing  upon  you,"  remarked  the  elder  lady 
in  a  sharp,  imperative  tone. 

^^ Shall  I  read  it  over,  mother?  I  will  try  to  speak 
more  distinctly,"  returned  the  other  submissively,  and 
she  began  again  a  long  paragraph  which,  I  gathered 
vaguely,  related  to  that  outward  humility  which  is  the 
becoming  and  appropriate  garment  for  a  race  of  miser- 
able sinners. 

^^That  is  better,"  commented  the  old  lady,  in  an 
utterly  ungrateful  manner,  ^  though  3''ou  have  never 
succeeded  in  properly  rolling  your  r's.  There,  that 
^dll  do  for  to-day,  we  Tsdll  continue  the  sermon  upon 
Humility  to-morrow." 

She  was  so  little  and  thin  and  wrinkled  that  it  was 
a  mystery  to  me,  as  I  looked  at  her,  how  she  managed 
to  express  so  much  authority  through  so  small  a 
medium.  The  chair  in  which  she  sat  seemed  almost 
to  swallow  her  in  its  high  arms  of  faded  green  leather; 
and  out  of  her  wide,  gathered  skirt  of  brocade,  her 
body  rose  very  erect,  like  one  of  my  mother's  black- 
headed  bonnet   pins  out  of    her    draped  pincushion. 


IN   WHICH    I   PLAY   IN    THE   GARDEN  51 

On  her  head  there  was  a  cap  of  lace  trimmed  gayly 
with  purple  ribbons,  and  beneath  this  festive  adorn- 
ment, a  fringe  of  false  curls,  still  brown  and  lustrous, 
lent  a  ghastly  coquetry  to  her  mummied  features. 
In  the  square  of  sunshine,  between  the  gauze  curtains  at 
the  window,  a  green  parrot,  in  a  wire  cage,  was  scolding 
^iciously  while  it  pecked  at  a  bit  of  sponge-cake  from 
its  mistress's  hand.  At  the  time  I  was  too  badly 
frightened  to  notice  the  wonderful  space  and  richness 
of  the  room,  with  its  carved  rosewood  bookcases,  and 
its  dim  portraits  of  beruffled  cavaliers  and  gravely 
smiling  ladies. 

^^ Sally,''  said  the  old  lady,  turning  upon  me  a  pierc- 
ing glance  which  was  like  the  flash  of  steel  in  the  sun- 
light, '4s  that  a  boy?" 

Going  over  to  the  armchair,  the  little  girl  stood 
holding  the  kitten  behind  her,  while  she  kissed  her 
grandmother's  cheek. 

''What  is  it,  Sally,  dear?^'  asked  the  younger 
woman,  closing  her  book  with  a  sigh. 

"It's  a  boy,  mamma,"  answered  the  child. 

At  this  the  old  lady  stiffened  on  her  velvet  cushions. 
"I  thought  I  had  told  you,  Sally,"  she  remarked  icily, 
"that  there  is  nothing  that  I  object  to  so  much  as  a 
boy.  Dogs  and  cats  I  have  tolerated  in  silence,  but 
since  I  have  been  in  this  house  no  boy  has  set  foot  in- 
side the  doors." 

"I  am  sure,  dear  mamma,  that  Sally  did  not  mean 
to  disobey  you,"  murmured  the  younger  woman, 
almost  in  tears. 

"Yes,  I  did,  mamma,"  answered  the  child,  gravely, 
"I  meant  to  disobey  her.     But  he  has  such  nice  blue 


52  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

eyes/'  she  went  on  eagerly,  her  lips  glowing  as  she 
talked  until  they  matched  the  bright  red  of  her  danc- 
ing shoes;  ^'an'  he's  goin'  to  take  a  kitten  home  for 
a  pet,  an'  he  says  the  reason  he  doesn't  wash  his  face 
is  because  he  hasn't  any  water." 

''Is  it  possible,"  enquired  the  old  lady  in  the  manner 
of  her  pecking  parrot,  ''that  he  does  not  wash  his 
face?" 

My  pride  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  opening  my 
mouth  I  spoke  in  a  loud,  high  voice. 

"If  you  please,  ma'am,  I  wash  my  face  every  day," 
I  said,  "and  all  over  every  Saturday  night." 

She  was  still  feeding  the  parrot  with  a  bit  of  cake, 
and  as  I  spoke,  she  turned  toward  me  and  waved  one 
of  her  wiry  little  hands,  which  reminded  m.e  of  a 
bird's  claw,  under  its  ruffle  of  yellowed  lace. 

"Bring  him  here,  Sally,  and  let  me  see  him,"  she 
directed,  as  if  I  had  been  some  newly  entrapped  savage 
beast. 

Catching  me  by  the  arm,  Sally  obediently  led  me  to 
the  armchair,  where  I  stood  awkward  and  trembling, 
with  my  hands  clutching  the  flaps  of  my  breeches' 
pockets,  and  my  eyes  on  the  ground. 

For  a  long  pause  the  old  lady  surveyed  me  critically 
with  her  merciless  eyes.  Then, ' '  Give  him  a  piece  of  cake, 
Sally,"  she  remarked,  when  the  examination  was  over. 

Sally's  mother  had  come  up  softly  behind  me  while 
I  writhed  under  the  piercing  gaze,  and  bending  over 
she  encircled  my  shoulders  with  her  protecting  arms. 

"He's  a  dear  little  fellow,  with  such  pretty  blue 
eyes,"  she  said. 

As  she  spoke  I  looked  up  for  the  first  time,  and  my 


IN   WHICH    I   PLAY   IN   THE   GARDEN  53 

glance  met  my  reflection  in  a  long,  gold-framed  mirror 
hanging  between  the  windows.  The  '^  pretty  blue 
eyes^^  I  saw,  but  I  saw  also  the  straw-coloured  hair, 
the  broad  nose  sprinkled  with  freckles,  and  the  sturdy 
legs  disguised  by  the  shapeless  breeches,  which  my 
mother  had  cut  out  of  a  discarded  dolman  she  had 
once  worn  to  funerals.  It  was  a  figure  which  might 
have  raised  a  laugh  in  the  ill-disposed,  but  the  women 
before  me  carried  kind  hearts  in  their  bosoms,  and 
even  grandmama^s  chilling  scrutiny  ended  in  nothing 
worse  than  a  present  of  cake. 

''May  I  play  with  him  just  a  little  while,  grand- 
mama?"  begged  Sally,  and  when  the  old  lady  nodded 
permission,  we  joined  hands  and  went  through  the 
open  window  out  upon  the  sunny  porch. 

On  that  spring  morning  the  colours  of  the  garden 
were  all  clear  white  and  purple,  for  at  the  foot  of  the 
curving  stairway,  and  on  the  upper  terrace,  bunches 
of  lilacs  bloomed  high  above  the  small  spring  flowers 
that  bordered  the  walk.  Beneath  the  fluted  columns 
a  single  great  snowball  bush  appeared  to  float  like  a 
cloud  in  the  warm  ^ind.  As  we  went  together  down 
the  winding  path  to  the  box  maze  which  was  sprinkled 
with  tender  green,  a  squirrel,  darting  out  of  one  of 
the  latticed  arbours,  stopped  motionless  in  the  walk 
and  sat  looking  up  at  us  with  a  pair  of  bright, 
suspicious  eyes. 

''I  reckon  I  could  make  him  skeet,  if  I  wanted  to," 
I  remarked,  embarrassed  rather  than  malevolent. 

Her  glance  dwelt  on  me  thoughtfully  for  a  moment, 
while  she  stood  there,  kicking  a  pebble  with  the  toe 
of  a  red  shoe. 


54  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^An'  I  reckon  I  could  make  you  skeet,  if  I  wanted 
to,"  she  replied  with  composure. 

Since  the  parade  of  mere  masculinity  had  failed  to 
impress  her,  I  resorted  to  subtler  measures,  and  kneel- 
ing among  the  small  spring  flowers  which  powdered 
the  lower  terrace,  I  began  laboriously  erecting  a  palace 
of  moss  and  stones. 

^'1  make  one  every  evening,  but  when  the  ghosts 
come  out  and  walk  up  an'  down,  they  scatter  them,'' 
observed  Sally,  hanging  attentively  upon  the  work. 

^^  Are  there  ghosts  here  really  an'  have  you  seen 
'em?"  I  asked. 

Stretching  out  her  hand,  she  swept  it  in  a  circle 
over  the  growing  palace.  ^^They  are  all  around  here 
—  everywhere,"  she  answered.  ^^I  saw  them  one  night 
when  I  was  running  away  from  my  father.  Mamma 
and  I  hid  in  that  big  box  bush  down  there,  an'  the 
ghosts  came  and  walked  all  about  us.  Do  you  have 
to  run  away  from  your  father,  too?" 

For  an  instant  I  hesitated ;  then  my  pride  triumphed 
magnificently  over  my  truthfulness.  ^^I  ran  clear  out 
to  the  hill  an'  all  the  way  down  it,"  I  rejoined. 

^^Is  his  face  red  and  awful?" 
As  red  as  —  as  an  apple." 
An  apple  ain't  awful." 
But  he  is.     I  T\dsh  you  could  see  him." 

'^ Would  he  kill  you  if  he  caught  you?" 

^^He  —  he'd  eat  me,"  I  panted. 

She  sighed  gravely.  ^^I  wonder  if  all  fathers  are 
like  that?  "  she  said,  ^^x^nyway,  I  don't  believe  yours 
is  as  bad  as  mine." 

^'I'd  like  to  know  why  he  ain't?"  I  protested  in- 
dignantly. 


IC 


iC 


IN   WHICH   I   PLAY   IX    THE    GARDEN  55 

Her  lips  quivered  and  went  upward  at  the  corners 
with  a  trick  of  expression  which  I  found  irresistible 
even  then. 

'^It's  a  pity  that  it's  time  for  you  to  go  home/'  she 
observed  politely. 

^^I  reckon  I  can  stay  a  Httle  while  longer/'  I  returned. 

She  shook  her  head,  but  I  had  already  gone  back 
to  the  unfinished  palace,  and  as  the  work  progressed, 
she  forgot  her  hint  of  dismissal  in  watching  the  fairy 
towers.  We  were  still  absorbed  in  the  building  when 
her  mother  came  down  the  curving  stairway  and  into 
the  maze  of  box. 

^^It's  time  for  you  to  run  home  now,  pretty  blue 
eyes,"  she  said  in  her  soft  girlish  way.  Then  catching 
our  hands  in  hers,  she  turned  vnth.  a  merry  laugh,  and 
ran  with  us  up  the  terraced  walk. 

^^Is  your  mamma  as  beautiful  as  mine?"  asked 
Sally,  when  we  came  to  a  breathless  stop. 

''She's  as  beautiful  as  —  as  a  wax  doll,"  I  replied 
stoutly. 

''That's  right,"  laughed  the  lady,  stooping  to  kiss 
me.  "You're  a  dear  boy.  Tell  your  mother  I  said 
so." 

She  went  slowly  up  the  steps  as  she  spoke,  and 
when  I  looked  back  a  moment  later,  I  saw  her  smiling 
down  on  me  between  two  great  columns,  with  the 
snowball  bush  floating  in  the  warm  ^dnd  beneath  her 
and  the  swallows  flying  low  in  the  sunshine  over  her 
head. 

I  had  opened  the  side  gate,  when  I  felt  a  soft,  furry 
touch  on  my  hand,  and  Sally  thrust  the  forgotten 
kitten  into  my  arms. 


56  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

"  Be  good  to  her/'  she  said  pleadingly.  ^^  Her  name's 
Florabella." 

Resisting  a  dastardly  impulse  to  forswear  my  bar- 
gain, I  tucked  the  mewing  kitten  under  my  coat, 
where  it  clawed  me  unobserved  by  any  jeering  boy  in 
the  street.  Passing  Mrs.  CudHp's  house  on  my  way 
home,  I  noticed  at  once  that  the  window  stood  in- 
vitingly open,  and  yielding  with  a  quaking  heart  to 
temptation,  I  leaned  inside  the  vacant  room,  and 
dropped  Florabella  in  the  centre  of  the  old  lady's 
easy  chair.  Then,  fearful  of  capture,  I  darted  along 
the  pavement  and  flung  myself  breathlessly  across  our 
doorstep. 

A  group  of  neighbours  was  gathered  in  the  centre  of 
our  little  sitting-room,  and  among  them  I  recognised 
the  flushed,  perspiring  face  of  Mrs.  Cudlip  herself. 
As  I  entered,  the  women  fell  slightly  apart,  and  I  saw 
that  they  regarded  me  with  startled,  compassionate 
glances.  A  queer,  strong  smell  of  drugs  was  in  the 
air,  and  near  the  kitchen  door  my  father  was  standing 
with  a  frightened  and  sheepish  look  on  his  face,  as  if 
he  had  been  thrust  suddenly  into  a  prominence  fiom 
which  he  shrank  back  abashed. 

'^ Where's  ma?"  I  asked,  and  my  voice  sounded 
loud  and  unnatural  in  my  own  ears. 

One  of  the  women  —  a  large,  motherly  person, 
whom  I  remembered  without  recognising,  crossed  the 
room  with  a  heavy  step  and  took  me  into  her  arms. 
At  this  day  I  can  feel  the  deep  yielding  expanse  of  her 
bosom,  when  pushing  her  from  me,  I  looked  round  and 
repeated  my  question  in  a  louder  tone. 

^^ Where's  ma?" 


IX   WHICH    I    PLAY   IX    THE   GARDEN  57 

^'She  was  took  of  a  sudden,  dear/'  replied  the 
woman,  still  straining  me  to  her.  ''It  came  over  her 
while  she  was  standin^  at  the  stove,  an'  befo'  anybody 
could  reach  her,  she  dropped  right  down  an'  waa 
gone." 

She  released  me  as  she  finished,  and  walking  straight 
through  the  kitchen  and  the  consoling  neighbours,  I 
opened  the  back  door,  and  closing  it  after  me,  sat 
down  on  the  single  step.  I  can't  remember  that  I 
shed  a  tear  or  that  I  suffered,  but  I  can  still  see  as 
plainly  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  the  clothes-line  stretch- 
ing across  the  httle  yard  and  the  fluttering,  half-dried 
garments  along  it.  There  was  a  striped  shirt  of  my 
father's,  a  faded  blue  one  of  mine,  a  pink  slip  of  baby 
Jessy's,  and  a  patched  blue  and  white  gingham  apron 
I  had  seen  only  that  morning  tied  at  my  mother's 
waist.  Between  the  high  board  fence,  above  the 
sunken  bricks  of  the  yard,  they  danced  as  gayly  as  if 
she  who  had  hung  them  there  was  not  Mng  dead  in 
the  house.  Samuel,  trotting  from  a  sunny  corner, 
crept  close  to  my  side,  with  his  warm  tongue  licking 
my  hand,  and  so  I  sat  for  an  hour  watching  the  flutter 
of  the  blue,  the  pink,  and  the  striped  shirts  on  the 
clothes-hne. 

''There  ain't  nobody  to  iron  'em  now,"  I  said  sud- 
denly to  Samuel,  and  then  I  wept. 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  WHICH  I  STAKT  IN  LIFE 

With  my  mother's  death  all  that  was  homelike  and 
comfortable  passed  from  our  little  house.  For  three 
days  after  the  funeral  the  neglected  clothes  still  hung 
on  the  Hne  in  the  back  yard,  but  on  the  fourth  morn- 
ing a  slatternly  girl,  with  red  hair  and  arms,  came 
from  the  grocery  store  at  the  corner,  and  gathered 
them  in.  My  little  sister  was  put  to  nurse  with  Mrs. 
CudHp  next  door,  and  when,  at  the  end  of  the  week, 
President  went  off  to  work  somewhere  in  a  mining 
town  in  West  Virginia,  my  father  and  I  were  left 
alone,  except  for  the  spasmodic  appearances  of  the 
red-haired  slattern.  Gradually  the  dust  began  to 
settle  and  thicken  on  the  dried  cat-tails  in  the  china 
vases  upon  the  mantel;  the  ''prize''  red  geranium 
dropped  its  blossoms  and  withered  upon  the  sill;  the 
soaking  dish-cloths  lay  in  a  sloppy  pile  on  the  kitchen 
floor;  and  the  vegetable  rinds  were  left  carelessly  to 
rot  in  the  bucket  beside  the  sink.  The  old  neatness 
and  order  had  departed  before  the  garments  my 
mother  had  washed  were  returned  again  to  the  tub, 
and  day  after  day  I  saw  my  father  shake  his  head 
dismally  over  the  soggy  bread  and  the  underdone 
beef.  Whether  or  not  he  ever  realised  that  it  was 
my  mother's  hand  that  had  kept  him  above  the  sur- 

68 


IN   WHICH   I    START   IX    LIFE  59 

face  of  life,  I  shall  never  know ;  but  when  that  strong 
grasp  was  relaxed,  he  went  hopelessly,  irretrievably, 
and  unresistingly  under.  In  the  beginning  there  was 
merely  a  general  ^dldness  and  disorder  in  his  appear- 
ance, —  first  one  button,  then  two,  then  three  dropped 
from  his  coat.  After  that  his  linen  was  changed  less 
often,  his  hair  allowed  to  spread  more  stiffly  above  his 
forehead,  and  the  old  ashes  from  his  pipe  dislodged 
less  frequently  from  the  creases  in  his  striped  shirt. 
At  the  end  of  three  months  I  noticed  a  new  fact  about 
him  —  a  penetrating  odour  of  alcohol  which  belonged 
to  the  very  air  he  breathed.  His  mind  grew  slower 
and  seemed  at  last  almost  to  stop;  his  blue  eyes  be- 
came heavier  and  glazed  at  times;  and  presently  he 
fell  into  the  habit  of  going  out  in  the  evenings,  and 
not  returning  until  I  had  cried  myself  to  sleep,  under 
my  tattered  quilt,  with  Samuel  hugged  close  in  my 
arms.  Sometimes  the  red-haired  girl  would  stop  after 
her  work  for  a  few  friendly  words,  proving  that  a 
slovenly  exterior  is  by  no  means  incompatible  \\dth  a 
kindly  heart;  but  as  a  usual  thing  I  was  left  alone, 
after  the  boys  had  gone  home  from  their  play  in 
the  street,  to  amuse  myself  and  Samuel  as  I  could 
through  the  long  evening  hours.  Sometimes  I  brought 
in  an  apple  or  a  handful  of  chestnuts  given  me  by  one 
of  the  neighbours  and  roasted  them  before  the  rem- 
nants of  fire  in  the  stove.  Once  or  twice  I  opened  my 
mother's  closet  and  took  down  her  clothes  —  her  best 
bombazine  dress,  her  black  cashmere  mantle  trimmed 
with  bugles,  her  long  rustling  crape  veil,  folded  neatly 
beneath  her  bonnet  in  the  tall  bandbox  —  and  half  in 
grief;  half  in  curiosity,  I  invaded  those  sacred  pre- 


60  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

cincts  where  my  hands  had  never  dared  penetrate 
while  she  was  aHve.  My  great  loss,  from  which  prob- 
ably in  more  cheerful  surroundings  I  should  ha\e 
recovered  in  a  few  weeks,  was  renewed  in  me  every 
evening  by  my  loneliness  and  by  the  dumb  sympathy 
of  Samuel,  who  would  stand  wagging  his  tail  for  an 
hour  at  the  sight  of  the  cloak  or  the  bonnet  that  she 
had  worn.  Like  my  father  I  grew  more  unkempt 
and  ragged  every  day  I  lived.  I  ceased  to  wash  my- 
self, because  there  was  nobody  to  make  me.  My 
buttons  dropped  off  one  by  one  and  nobody  scolded. 
I  dared  no  longer  go  near  the  gate  of  the  enchanted 
garden,  fearing  that  if  the  little  girl  were  to  catch 
sight  of  me,  she  would  call  me  '  ^  dirty, "  and  run  away 
in  disgust.  Occasionally  my  father  would  clap  me 
upon  the  shoulder  at  breakfast,  enquire  how  I  was 
getting  along,  and  give  me  a  rusty  copper  to  spend. 
But  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  I  believe,  he  was 
hardly  aware  of  my  existence;  the  vacant,  flushed 
look  was  almost  always  in  his  face  when  we  met,  and 
he  stayed  out  so  late  in  the  evening  that  it  was  not 
often  his  stumbling  footsteps  aroused  me  when  he 
came  upstairs  to  bed. 

So  accustomed  had  I  become  to  my  lonely  hours 
by  the  kitchen  stove,  with  Samuel  curled  up  at  my  feet, 
that  when  one  night,  about  six  months  after  my  mother's 
death,  I  heard  the  unexpected  sound  of  my  father's 
tread  on  the  pavement  outside,  I  turned  almost  with 
a  feeling  of  terror,  and  waited  breathlessly  for  his  un- 
steady hand  on  the  door.  It  came  after  a  minute, 
followed  immediately  by  his  entrance  into  the  kitchen, 
and  to  my  amazement  I  saw  presently  that  he  was 


IN   WHICH   I   START   IN   LIFE  61 

accompanied  by  a  strange  woman,  whom  I  recognised 
at  a  glance  as  one  of  those  examples  of  her  sex  that 
my  mother  had  been  used  to  classify  sweepingly  as 
*^ females/'  She  was  plump  and  jaunty,  with  yellow 
hair  that  hung  in  tight  ringlets  down  to  her  neck,  and 
pink  cheeks  that  looked  as  if  they  might  ''come  off" 
if  they  were  thoroughly  scrubbed.  There  was  about 
her  a  spring,  a  bounce,  an  animation  that  impressed 
me,  in  spit-e  of  my  inherited  moral  sense,  as  decidedly 
elegant. 

My  father's  eyes  looked  more  vacant  and  his  face 
fuller  than  ever.  ''Benjy,"  he  began  at  once  in  a 
husky  voice,  while  his  companion  released  his  arm_in 
order  to  put  her  ringlets  to  rights,  ''I've  brought  you 
a  new  mother." 

At  this  the  female's  hands  fell  from  her  hair,  and  she 
looked  round  in  horror.  "What  boy  is  that,  Thomas  ?" 
she  demanded,  poised  there  in  all  her  flashing  bright- 
ness like  a  figure  of  polished  brass. 

"That  boy,"  replied  my  father,  as  if  at  a  loss  exactly 
how  to  account  for  me,  "that  boy  is  Ben  Starr  — 
otherTsdse  Benjy  —  otherwise — " 

He  would  have  gone  on  forever,  I  think,  in  his 
eagerness  to  explain  me  away,  if  the  woman  had  not 
jerked  him  up  with  a  peremptory  question:  "How 
did  he  come  here?"    she  enquired. 

Since  nothing  but  the  naked  truth  would  avail  him 
now,  he  uttered  it  at  last  in  an  eloquent  monosyllable 
—  "Born." 

"But  you  told  me  there  was  not  a  chick  or  a  child," 
she  exclaimed  in  a  rage. 

For  a  moment  he  hesitated ;  then  opening  his  mouth 


62  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

slowly,  he  gave  voice  to  the  single  witticism  of  his 
life. 

^'That  was  befo'  I  married  you,  dearie/'  he  said. 

'^Well,  how  am  I  to  know/'  demanded  the  fenmle, 
^' that  you  haven't  got  a  parcel  of  others  hidden  away  ?" 

^^Thar's  one,  the  littlest,  put  out  to  nurse  next  do', 
an'  another,  the  biggest,  gone  to  work  in  the  West," 
he  returned  in  his  amiable,  childish  manner. 

After  my  unfortunate  introduction,  however,  the 
addition  of  a  greater  and  a  lesser  appeared  to  impress 
her  but  little.  She  looked  scornfully  about  the  dis- 
orderly room,  took  off  her  big,  florid  bonnet,  and  began 
arranging  her  hair  before  the  three-cornered  mottled 
mirror  on  the  wall.  Then  wheeling  round  in  a  temper, 
her  eyes  fell  on  Samuel,  sitting  dejectedly  on  his  tail 
by  my  mother's  old  blue  and  white  gingham  apron. 

^^What  is  that?"  she  fired  straight  into  my  father's 
face. 

^^That,"  he  responded,  offering  his  unnecessary  in- 
formation as  if  it  were  a  piece  of  flattery,  ^^air  the  dawg, 
Sukey." 

^^ Whose  dawg?" 

Goaded  into  defiance  by  this  attack  on  my  only 
friend,  I  spoke  in  a  shrill  voice  from  the  corner  into 
which  I  had  retreated.     ^^Mine,"  I  said. 

^'Wall,  I'll  tell  you  what!"  exclaimed  the  female, 
charging  suddenly  upon  me,  "ii  I've  got  to  put  up  with 
a  chance  o'  kids,  I  don't  reckon  I've  got  to  be  plagued 
with  critters,  too.     Shoo,  suh  !  get  out !" 

Seizing  my  mother's  broom,  she  advanced  resolutely 
to  the  attack,  and  an  instant  later,  to  my  loud  distress 
and  to  Samuel's  unspeakable  horror,  she  had  whisked 


IN   WHICH   I   START   IX   LIFE  63 

him  across  the  kitchen  and  through  the  back  door  out 
into  the  yard. 

''Steady,  Sukey,  steady/^  remarked  my  father  caress- 
ingly, much  as  he  might  have  spoken  to  a  favourite  but 
unruly  heifer.  For  an  instant  he  looked  a  little  crest- 
fallen, I  saw  with  pleasure,  but  as  soon  as  Samuel  was 
outside  and  the  door  had  closed,  he  resumed  immediately 
his  usual  expression  of  foolish  good  humour.  It  was 
impossible,  I  think,  for  him  to  retain  an  idea  in  his  mind 
after  the  object  of  it  had  been  removed  from  his  sight. 
While  I  was  still  drying  my  eyes  on  my  frayed  coat  sleeve, 
I  watched  him  with  resentment  begin  a  series  of  play- 
ful lunges  at  the  neck  of  the  female,  which  she  received 
with  a  sulky  and  forbidding  air.  Steahng  away  the 
next  minute,  I  softly  opened  the  back  door  and  joined 
the  outcast  Samuel,  where  he  sat  whining  upon  the  step. 

The  night  was  very  dark,  but  beyond  the  looming 
chimneys  a  lonely  star  winked  at  me  through  the  thick 
covering  of  clouds.  I  was  a  sturdy  boy  for  my  age, 
sound  in  body,  and  inwardly  not  given  to  sentiment  or 
softness  of  any  kind ;  but  as  I  sat  there  on  the  doorstep, 
I  felt  a  lump  rise  in  my  throat  at  the  thought  that 
Samuel  and  I  were  two  small  outcast  animals  in  the 
midst  of  a  shivering  world.  I  remembered  that  when 
my  mother  was  alive  I  had  never  let  her  kiss  me  except 
when  she  paid  me  by  a  copper  or  a  slice  of  bread  laid 
thickly  with  blackberry  jam ;  and  I  told  myself  desper- 
ately that  if  she  could  only  come  back  now,  I  would 
let  her  do  it  for  nothing  !  She  might  even  whip  me  be- 
cause I'd  torn  my  trousers  on  the  back  fence,  and  I 
thought  I  should  hardly  feel  it.  I  recalled  her  last 
birthday,  when  I  had  gone  down  to  the  market  with 


64  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

five  cents  of  my  own  to  buy  her  some  green  gage  plums, 
of  which  she  was  very  fond,  and  how  on  the  way  up  the 
hill,  being  tempted,  I  had  eaten  them  all  myself.  At 
the  time  I  had  stifled  my  remorse  with  the  assurance 
that  she  would  far  rather  I  should  have  the  plums  than 
eat  them  herself,  but  this  was  cold  comfort  to  me 
to-night  while  I  regretted  my  selfishness.  If  I  had  only 
saved  her  half,  as  I  had  meant  to  do  if  the  hill  had  not 
been  quite  so  long  and  so  steep. 

Samuel  snuggled  closer  to  me  and  we  both  shivered, 
for  the  night  was  fresh.  The  house  had  grown  quiet 
inside ;  my  father  and  his  new  wife  had  evidently  left 
the  kitchen  and  gone  upstairs.  As  I  sat  there  I  realised 
suddenly,  with  a  pang,  that  I  could  never  go  inside  the 
door  again ;  and  rising  to  my  feet,  I  struck  a  match  and 
fumbled  for  a  piece  of  chalk  in  my  pocket.  Then 
standing  before  the  door  I  wrote  in  large  letters  across 
the  panel :  — 

^^Dear  Pa. 

I  have  gone  to  work. 
Your  Aff .  son, 

Ben  Starr." 

The  blue  flame  of  the  match  flickered  an  instant 
along  the  words;  then  it  w^ent  out,  and  with  Samuel 
at  my  heels,  I  crept  through  the  back  gate  and  down  the 
alley  to  the  next  street,  which  led  to  the  ragged  brow 
of  the  hill.  Ahead  of  me,  as  I  turned  off  into  Main 
Street,  the  scattered  lights  of  the  city  showed  like 
blurred  patches  upon  the  darkness.  Gradually,  while 
I  went  rapidly  downhill,  I  saw  the  patches  change  into 
a  nebulous  cloud,  and  the  cloud  resolve  itself  presently 


IN   WHICH    I   START    IX   LIFE  65 

into  straight  rows  of  lamps.  Few  people  were  in  the 
streets  at  that  hour^  and  when  I  reached  the  dim  build- 
ing of  the  Old  Market,  I  found  it  cold  and  deserted, 
except  for  a  stray  cur  or  two  that  snarled  at  Samuel 
from  a  heap  of  trodden  straw  under  a  covered  wagon. 
Despite  the  fact  that  I  was  for  all  immediate  purposes 
as  homeless  as  the  snarling  curs,  I  was  not  without  the 
quickened  pulses  which  attend  any  situation  that  a  boy 
may  turn  to  an  adventure.  A  high  heart  for  desperate 
circumstances  has  never  failed  me,  and  it  bore  me 
company  that  night  w^hen  I  came  back  again  vrith. 
aching  feet  to  the  Old  Market,  and  lay  down,  holding 
Samuel  tight,  on  a  pile  of  straw. 

In  a  little  while  I  awoke  because  Samuel  was  barking, 
and  sitting  up  in  the  straw  I  saw  a  dim  shape  huddled 
beside  me,  which  I  made  out,  aft^r  a  few  startled 
blinks,  to  be  the  bent  figure  of  a  woman  wrapped  in  a 
blaek  shawl  with  fringed  ends,  which  were  pulled  over 
her  head  and  knotted  under  her  chin.  From  the  pene- 
trating odour  I  had  learned  to  associate  with  my 
father,  I  judged  that  she  had  been  lately  drinking,  and 
the  tumbled  state  of  my  coat  convinced  me  that  she  had 
been  frustrated  by  Samuel  in  a  base  design  to  rifle  my 
pocket-s.  Yet  she  appeared  so  miserable  as  she  sat  there 
rocking  from  side  to  side  and  crying  to  herself,  that  I 
began  all  at  once  to  feel  very  sorry.  It  seemed  to  hurt 
her  to  cry  and  yet  I  saw  that  the  more  it  hurt  her  the 
more  she  cried. 

^'If  I  were  you,"  I  suggested  poHtely,  ^^I'd  go  home 
right  away." 

'^Home?"  repeated  the  woman,  with  a  hiccough, 
''what's  home?" 


€6  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

"The  place  you  live  in.'^ 

"Lor,  honey,  I  don't  live  in  no  place.     I  jest  walks/* 

"But  what  do  you  do  when  you  get  tired ?'* 

"I  walks  some  mo\" 

"An*  don't  you  ever  leave  off?'* 

"Only  when  it's  dark  like  this  an*  thar's  no  folks 
about." 

"But  what  do  folks  say  to  you  when  they  see  you 
walkin'?" 

"Say  to  me/'  she  threw  back  her  head  and  broke 
into  a  drunken  laugh,  ^^why,  they  say  to  me:  ^Step 
Evely!'** 

She  crawled  closer,  peering  at  me  greedily  under  the 
pale  glimmer  of  the  street  lamp. 

"Why,  you're  a  darlin'  of  a  boy,"  she  said,  "an* 
such  pretty  blue  eyes  !"  Then  she  rose  to  her  feet  and 
stood  swaying  unsteadily  above  me,  while  Samuel 
broke  out  into  angry  barks.  "Shall  I  tell  you  a  secret 
because  of  yo'  blue  eyes?"  she  asked.  "It's  this  — 
whatever  you  do  in  this  world,  you  step  lively  about  it. 
I've  done  a  heap  of  lookin'  an'  I've  seen  the  ones  who 
get  on  are  the  ones  who  st^p  the  Uveliest.  It  ain't  no 
matter  where  you're  goin',  it  ain't  no  matter  who's  befo' 
you,  if  you  want  to  get  there  first,  step  hvely  !" 

She  went  out,  taking  her  awful  secret  with  her,  and 
turning  over  I  feU  asleep  again  on  my  pile  of  straw.  "  If 
ever  I  have  a  dollar  I'll  give  it  to  her  so  she  may  stop 
walkin',"  was  my  last  conscious  thought. 

My  next  awakening  was  a  very  different  one,  for  the 
Sight  was  streaming  into  the  market,  and  a  cheerful  red 
face  was  shining  down,  like  a  rising  sun,  over  a  wheel- 
barrow of  vegetables. 


IN  WHICH    I    START   IN    LIFE  $7 

''Don't  you  think  it's  about  time  all  honest  folk  were 
out  of  bed,  sonn}^?"  enquired  a  voice. 

''I  ain't  been  here  mo'n  an  hour/'  I  retorted,  resent- 
ing the  imputation  of  slothfulness  with  a  spirit  that 
was  not  unworthy  of  my  mother. 

The  open  length  of  the  market,  I  saw  now,  was  be- 
ginning to  present  a  busy,  almost  a  festive,  air.  Stalls 
were  already  laden  with  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  farm- 
ers' wagons  covered  with  canvas,  and  driven  by  sun- 
burnt countrymen,  had  drawn  up  to  the  sidewalk.  Ris- 
ing hurriedly  to  my  feet,  I  began  rubbing  my  eyes,  for 
I  had  been  dreaming  of  the  fragrance  of  bacon  in  our 
little  kitchen. 

*'Now  I'd  be  up  an'  off  to  home,  if  I  were  you, 
sonny,"  observed  the  marketman,  planting  his  wheel- 
barrow of  vegetables  on  the  brick  floor,  and  beginning 
to  wipe  off  the  stall.  "The  sooner  you  take  yo' 
whippin',  the  sooner  you'll  set  easy  again." 

''There  ain't  anybody  to  whip  me,"  I  replied  dole- 
fully, staring  at  the  sign  over  his  head,  on  which  was 
painted  in  large  letters  —  ''John  Chitling.  Fish,  Oys- 
ters (in  season).     Vegetables.     Fruits." 

Stopping  midway  in  his  preparations,  he  turned  on  me 
his  great  beaming  face,  so  like  the  rising  sun  that  looked 
over  his  shoulder,  while  I  watched  his  big  jean  apron  swell 
with  the  panting  breaths  that  drew  from  his  stomach, 

"Here's  a  boy  that  says  he  ain't  got  nobody  to  whip 
him  !"  he  exclaimed  to  his  neighbours  in  the  surrounding 
stalls,  —  a  poultryman,  covered  with  feathers,  a  fish 
vender,  bearing  a  string  of  mackerel  in  either  hand,  and 
a  butcher,  with  his  sleeves  rolled  up  and  a  blood-stained 
apron  about  his  waist. 


68  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^I  aFaysknew  you  were  thick-headed,  JohnChitling/^ 
remarked  the  fish  dealer,  with  contempt,  ^^but  I  never 
believed  you  were  such  a  plum  fool  as  not  to  know  a 
tramp  when  you  seed  him." 

^^You  ain't  got  but  eleven  of  yo'  own/'  observed  the 
butcher,  with  a  snicker;  ^^I  reckon  you'd  better  take 
him  along  to  round  out  the  full  dozen.'' 

'^If  I've  got  eleven  there  ain't  one  of  'em  that  wa'nt 
welcome,"  responded  John,  his  slow  temper  rising, 
'^an'  I  reckon  what  the  Lord  sends  he's  willing  to 
provide  for." 

'^Oh,  I  reckon  he  is,"  sneered  the  fish  dealer,  who 
appeared  to  be  of  an  unpleasant  disposition,  ^^so  long 
as  you  ain't  over-particular  about  the  quality  of  the 
provision." 

^''Well,  he  don't  provide  us  with  yo'  fish,  anyway," 
retorted  John;  and  I  was  watching  excitedly  for  the 
coming  blows  when  the  butcher,  who  had  been  looking 
over  me  as  reflectively  as  if  I  had  been  a  spring  lamb 
brought  to  slaughter,  intervened  mth  a  peaceable 
suggestion  that  he  should  take  me  into  his  service. 

^^I'm  on  the  lookout  for  a  bright  boy  in  my  busi- 
ness," he  observed. 

But  the  sight  of  blood  on  his  rolled-up  shirt  sleeves 
produced  in  me  that  strange  sickness  I  had  inherited 
from  my  mother,  who  used  to  pay  an  old  coloured 
market  man  to  come  up  and  wring  the  necks  of  her 
chickens ;  and  when  the  question  was  put  to  me  if  I'd  like 
to  be  trained  up  for  a  butcher,  I  drew  back  and  stood 
ready  for  instant  flight  in  case  they  should  attempt  to 
decide  my  future  by  present  force. 

^^I'd  rather  work  for  you/'  I  said,  looking  straight  at 


IN   WHICH   I   START   IN   LIFE  69 

John  Chitling,  for  it  occurred  to  me  that  if  I  were  made 
to  murder  anything  I^d  rather  it  would  be  oysters. 

^'Ha  !  ha  !  he  knows  by  the  look  of  you,  you're  needin' 
OBB  to  make  up  the  dozen/'  exclaimed  the  butcher. 

''Well,  I  declar  he  does  seem  to  have  taken  a  regular 
fancy/'  acknowledged  John,  flattered  by  my  decision. 
^'  I  don't  want  any  real  hands  now,  sonny,  but  if  you'd 
like  to  tote  the  marketing  around  with  Solomon,  I 
reckon  I  can  let  you  have  a  square  meal  or  so  along  with 
the  others." 

''What'U  yo'  old  woman  say  to  it,  John?"  enquired 
the  poultryman,  with  a  loud  guffaw,  ''when  you  send 
her  a  new  one  of  yo'  own  providin'  ?" 

John  Chitling  was  busily  arranging  a  pile  of  turnips 
with  what  he  doubtless  thought  was  an  artistic  eye  for 
colour,  and  the  facetiousness  of  the  poultryman  reacted 
harmlessly  from  his  thick  head. 

"You  needn't  worry  about  my  wife,  for  she  ain't 
worr3dn',"  he  rejoined,  and  the  shine  seemed  to  gather 
like  moisture  on  his  round  red  face  under  his  shock 
of  curling  red  hair.  "She  takes  what  comes  an'  leaves 
the  Lord  to  do  the  tendin'." 

At  this  a  shout  went  up  which  I  did  not  under- 
stand, imtil  I  came  to  know  later  that  an  impression 
existed  in  the  neighbourhood  that  the  Chitlings  had 
left  entirely  too  much  of  the  bringing  up  of  their  eleven 
children  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  who  in  turn  had 
left  them  quite  as  complacently  to  the  care  of  the 
gutter. 

"I  den't  know  but  what  too  much  trust  in  the 
Lord  don't  work  as  badly  as  too  little/'  observed  the 
fish  dealer,  while  John  went  on  placidly  arranging  his 


70  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

turnips  and  carrots.  ''What  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
best  religion  for  a  working-man  is  to  hold  a  kind  of 
middle  strip  between  faith  and  downright  disbeiievin'. 
Let  yo'  soul  trust  to  the  Lord's  lookin'  arter  you,  but 
never  let  yo'  hands  get  so  much  as  an  inklin'  that 
you're  a-trustin'.  YeS;  the  safest  way  is  to  believe  in 
the  Lord  on  Sunday,  an'  on  Monday  to  go  to  work  as 
if  you  wa'nt  quite  so  sartain-sure." 

A  long  finger  of  sunshine  stretched  from  beyond 
the  chimneys  across  the  street,  and  pointed  straight 
to  the  vegetables  on  John  Chitling's  counter,  until 
the  onions  glistened  like  silver  balls,  and  the  turnips 
and  carrots  sent  out  flashes  of  dull  red  and  bright 
orange. 

''I'll  let  you  overhaul  a  barrel  of  apples,  sonny," 
said  the  big  man  to  me ;  "have  you  got  a  sharp  eye  for 
specks?" 

When  I  replied  that  I  thought  I  had,  he  pointed  to 
a  barrel  from  which  the  top  had  been  recently  knocked. 
"They're  to  be  sorted  in  pUes,  according  to  size,"  he 
explained,  and  added,  "For  such  is  the  contrariness  of 
human  nature  that  there  are  some  folks  as  can't  see 
the  apple  for  the  speck,  an'  others  that  would  a  long 
ways  rather  have  the  speck  than  the  apple.  I've  one 
old  gentleman  for  a  customer  who  can't  enjoy  eatin' 
a  pippin  unless  he  can  find  one  with,  a  spot  that  won't 
keep  till  to-morrow." 

Kneeling  down  on  the  bricks,  as  he  directed,  I 
sorted  the  yellow  apples  until,  growing  presently  faint 
irom  hunger,  I  began  to  gaze  longingly,  I  suppose,  at 
ihe  string  of  fish  hanging  above  my  head. 

''Maybe  you'd  like  to  run  across  an'  get  a  bite  of 


IN   WHICH   I   START   IN   LIFE  71 

somethin'  befo^  you  go  on/'  suggested  John,  reading 
my  glances. 

But  I  only  shook  my  head,  in  spite  of  my  gnaw- 
ing stomach,  and  went  on  doggedly  with  my  sorting, 
impelled  by  an  inherent  determination  to  do  with  the 
best  of  me  whatever  I  undertook  to  do  at  all.  To  the 
possession  of  this  trait,  I  can  see  now  in  looking  back, 
I  have  owed  any  success  or  achievement  that  has  been 
mine  —  neither  to  brains  nor  to  chance,  but  simply  to 
that  instinct  to  hold  fast  which  was  bred  in  my  bone 
and  structure.  For  the  lack  of  this  quality  I  have 
seen  men  with  greater  intellects,  with  far  quicker  wits 
than  mine,  go  down  in  the  struggle.  Brilliancy  I  have 
not,  nor  any  particular  outward  advantage,  except 
that  of  size  and  muscle ;  but  when  I  was  once  in  the 
race,  I  could  never  see  to  right  or  to  left  of  me,  only 
straight  ahead  to  the  goal. 

Overhead  the  sun  had  risen  slowly  higher,  until  the 
open  spaces  and  the  brick  arches  were  flooded  with 
light.  If  I  had  turned  I  should  have  seen  the  gay 
vegetable  stalls  blooming  like  garden  beds  down  the 
dim  length  of  the  building.  The  voices  of  the  market 
men  floated  tow^ard  me,  now  quarrelling,  now  laughing, 
now  raised  to  shout  at  a  careless  negro  or  a  prowling 
dog.  I  heard  the  sounds,  and  I  smelt  the  strong  smell 
of  fish  from  the  gleaming  strings  of  perch  and  mackerel 
hanging  across  the  way.  But  through  it  all  I  did  not 
look  up  and  I  did  not  turn.  My  first  piece  of  work 
was  done  with  the  high  determination  to  do  it  well, 
and  it  has  been  my  conviction  from  that  morning  that 
if  I  had  slighted  that  barrel  of  apples,  I  should  have 
failed  inevitably  in  my  career. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CONCERNING  CARROTS 

When  I  had  finished  my  work,  I  rose  from  my 
knees  and  stood  waiting  for  John  Chitling's  directions. 

^'Run  along  to  the  next  street/'  he  said  kindly, 
^^an'  you  can  tell  my  house,  I  reckon,  by  the  number 
of  children  in  the  gutter.  It's  the  house  with  the 
most  children  befo'  it.  You'll  find  my  wife  cookin', 
likely  enough,  in  the  kitchen,  an'  all  you've  got  to  say 
is  that  I  told  you  to  tell  her  that  you  were  hungry. 
She  won't  ax  you  many  questions,  —  that  ain't  her 
way,  —  but  she'll  jest  set  to  w^ork  an'  feed  you." 

Reassured  by  this  description,  I  whistled  to  Samuel, 
and  crossed  the  narrow  street,  crowded  with  farmers' 
wagons  and  empty  wheelbarrows,  to  a  row  of  dingy 
houses,  with  darkened  basements,  which  began  at  the 
corner.  By  the  number  of  ragged  and  unwashed 
children  playing  among  the  old  tin  cans  in  the  gutter 
before  the  second  doorway,  I  concluded  that  this  was 
the  home  of  John  Chitling;  and  I  was  about  to  enter 
the  close,  dimly  lighted  passage,  when  a  chorus  of 
piercing  screams  from  the  small  Chitlings  outside, 
brought  before  me  a  large,  slovenly  woman,  with  slip- 
shod shoes,  and  a  row  of  curl  papers  above  her  fore- 
head. When  she  reached  the  doorway,  a  small  crowd 
had  already  gathered  upon  the  pavement,  and  I  be- 
held a  half-naked   urchin  of  a  year  or   thereabouts, 

72 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  73 

dangled,  head  downwards,  by  the  hand  of  a  passing 
milkman. 

^^The  baby^s  gone  an'  swallowed  a  cent,  ma,'' 
shrieked  a  half-dozen  treble  voices. 

^^  Well,  the  Lord  be  praised  that  it  wa'nt  a  quarter !" 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Chitling,  with  a  cheerful  piety,  which 
impressed  me  hardly  less  than  did  the  placid  face 
with  which  she  gazed  upon  the  howling  baby.  '^  There, 
there,  it  ain't  near  so  bad  as  it  might  have  been. 
Don't  scream  so.  Tommy,  a  cent  w^on't  choke  him 
an'  a  quarter  might  have." 

^^But  it  was  mij  cent,  an'  I  ain't  got  a  quarter!" 
roared  Tommy,  still  unconsoled. 

^^Well,  I'll  give  you  a  quarter  when  my  ship  comes 
in,"  responded  his  mother,  at  which  the  grief  of  the 
small  financier  began  gradually  to  subside. 

^'I  had  it  right  in  my  hand,"  he  sniffled,  with  his 
knuckles  at  his  eyes,  ^^an'  I  jest  put  it  into  the  baby's 
mouth  for  keepin'." 

By  this  time  Mrs.  Chitling  had  received  the  baby 
into  her  arms,  and  turning  with  an  unruffled  manner, 
she  bore  him  into  the  house,  where  she  stopped  his 
mouth  with  a  spoonful  of  blackberry  jam.  As  she 
replaced  the  jar  on  the  shelf  she  looked  down,  and  for 
the  first  time  became  aware  of  my  presence. 

'^He  ain't  swallowed  anything  of  yours,  has  he?" 
she  enquired.  ^'If  he  has  you'll  have  to  put  the 
complaint  in  wTiting  because  the  neighbours  are 
al'ays  comin'  to  me  for  the  things  that  are  inside  of 
him.  I've  never  been  able  to  shake  anything  out  of 
him,"  she  added  placidly,  ^'  except  one  of  Mrs.  Has- 
kin's  bugle  beads." 


74  THE    EOMAXCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

She  delivered  this  with  such  perfect  amiability  that 
I  was  emboldened  to  sa}^  in  my  politest  manner,  ''If 
you  please,  ma'am,  Mr.  Chitling  told  me  I  was  to  say 
that  he  said  that  I  was  hungry. '^ 

''So  the  baby  really  ain't  took  anything  of  yours ?'^ 
she  asked,  relieved.  "Well,  I  al'ays  said  he  didn't  do 
half  the  damage  they  accused  him  of." 

As  I  possessed  nothing  except  the  clothes  in  which 
I  stood,  and  even  that  elastic  urchin  could  hardly 
have  accommodated  these,  I  hast-ened  to  assure  her 
that  I  w^as  the  bearer  of  no  complaint.  This  ap- 
peared to  win  her  entirely,  and  her  large  motherly  face 
beamed  upon  me  beneath  the  aureole  of  curl  papers 
that  radiated  from  her  forehead.  With  a  single  move- 
ment she  cleared  a  space  on  the  disorderly  kitchen 
table  and  slapped  down  a  plate,  with  a  piece  missing, 
as  if  the  baby  had  taken  a  bite  out  of  it. 

"To  think  of  yo'  goin^  hungry  at  yo'  age  an'  with- 
out a  mother,"  she  said,  opening  a  safe,  and  whipping 
several  slices  of  bacon  and  a  couple  of  eggs  into  a 
skillet.  "Why,  it  would  make  me  turn  in  my  grave 
if  I  thought  of  one  of  my  eleven  wantin'  a  bite  of 
meat  an'  not  havin'  it." 

As  she  switched  about  in  her  cheerful,  slovenly  way, 
I  saw  that  her  skirt  had  sagged  at  the  back  into  what 
appeared  to  be  an  habitual  gap,  and  from  beneath  it 
there  showed  a  black  calico  petticoat  of  a  dingy  shade. 
But  when  a  little  later  she  sat  me  at  the  table,  with 
Samuel's  breakfast  on  the  floor  beside  me,  I  forgot 
her  slatternly  dress,  her  halo  of  curl  papers,  and  her 
slipshod  shoes,  while  I  plied  my  fork  and  my  fingers 
under  the  motherly  effulgence  of  her  smile.     Tied  into 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  75 

a  high  chair  in  one  corner,  the  baby  sat  bolt  upright, 
with  his  thumb  in  his  mouth,  deriving  apparently  the 
greatest  enjoyment  from  watching  my  appetite;  and 
before  I  had  finished,  the  ten  cheerful  children  trooped 
in  and  gathered  about  me.  ^'Give  him  another 
cake,  ma!'^  ^'It's  my  turn  to  help  him  next,  ma!'' 
'^I'll  pour  out  his  coffee  for  him!''  ^^Oh,  ma,  let  me 
feed  the  dog,"  rose  in  a  jubilant  chorus  of  shrieks. 

^^An'  he  ain't  got  any  mother!"  roared  Tommy 
suddenly,  and  burst  into  tears. 

A  sob  lodged  in  my  throat,  but  before  the  choking 
sound  of  it  reached  my  ears,  I  felt  myself  enfolded  in 
Mrs.  Chitling's  embrace.  As  I  looked  up  at  her  from 
this  haven  of  refuge,  it  seemed  to  me  that  her  curl 
pap>ers  were  transfigured  into  a  halo,  and  that  her 
face  shone  with  a  heavenly  beauty. 

I  was  given  a  bed  in  the  attic,  with  the  six  younger 
Chitlings,  and  two  days  later,  when  my  father  tracked 
me  to  my  hiding-place,  I  hid  under  the  dark  stair- 
case in  the  hall,  and  heard  my  protector  deliver  an 
eloquent  invective  on  the  subject  of  stepmothers.  It 
was  the  one  occasion  in  my  long  acquaintance  with 
her  when  I  saw  her  fairly  roused  out  of  her  amiable 
inertia.  Albemarle,  the  baby,  had  spilled  bacon 
gravy  over  her  dress  that  very  morning,  and  I  had 
heard  her  console  him  immediately  with  the  assur- 
ance that  there  was  ^^a  plenty  more  in  the  dish." 
But  possessed  though  she  was  with  that  peculiar  in- 
sight which  discerns  in  every  misfortune  a  hidden 
blessing,  in  stepmothers,  I  found,  and  in  stepmothers 
alone,  she  could  discern  nothing  except  sermons. 

'^To  think  of  yo'  havin'  the  brazen  impudence  to 


re  THE  ROMANCE   OF  A  PLAIN   MAN 

come  here  arter  the  harm  youVe  done  that  po^  de- 
fenceless darling  boy,"  she  said,  with  a  noble  dignity 
which  obscured  somehow  her  slovenly  figure  and  her 
dirty  kitchen.  Peering  out  from  under  the  staircase, 
I  could  see  that  my  father  stood  quite  humbly  before 
her,  twirling  his  hatbrim  nervously  in  hk  hands. 

^'I  ax  you  to  believe,  mum,  what  is  the  gospel 
truth,"  he  replied,  ^Hhat  I  wa'nt  meanin'  any  harm  to 
Benjy." 

^^Not  meanin'  any  harm  an'  you  brought  him  a 

stepmother   befo'   six   months  was  up?"    she   cried. 

VWell,  that  ain't  my  way  of  lookin'  at  it,  for  IVe  a 

mother's  heart  and  it  takes  a  mother's  heart  to  stand 

the  tricks  of  children,"  she  added,  glancing  down  at 

the  gravy  stains  on   her   bosom,   ^^an'  it  ain't   to  be 

supposed  —  is  it  ?  —  that  a  stepmother  should  have  a 

mother's  heart?     It  ain't  natur  —  is  it?  —  I  put  it  to 

you,  that  any  man  or  woman  should  be  born  with  a 

natchel  taste  for  screamin'  an'  kickin'  an'  bein'  splashed 

with  gravy,  an'  the  only  thing  that's  goin'  to  cultivate 

them  tastes  in  anybody  is  bringin'  ten  or  eleven  of 

'em  into  the  world.     Lord,   suh,   I  wa'nt  born  with 

the  love  of  dirt  an'  fussin'   any  mo'   than  you.     It 

just  comes  along  o'  motherhood  like  so  much  else. 

Now  it  stands  to  reason  that  you  ain't  goin'  to  enjoy 

the  trouble  a  child  makes  unless  that  child  is  your 

own.     Why,  what  did  my  baby  do  this  mornin'  when 

he  was  learnin'  to  walk,  but  catch  holt  of  the  dish  an' 

bring  all  the  gravy  down  over  me.     Is  thar  any  livin' 

soul,  I  ax  you  plainly,  expected  to  see  the  cuteness 

in  a  thing  like  that  except  a  mother?     An'  what  I 

say  is  that  unless  you  can  see  the  cuteness  in  a  child 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  77 

instead  of  the  badness,  you  ain't  got  no  business  to 
bring  'em  up  —  no,  not  even  if  you  are  the  President 
himself!—'' 

Just  here  I  distinctly  heard  my  father  murmur  in 
his  humble  voice  something  about  having  named  an 
infant  after  the  office  and  not  the  man.  But  so  brief 
was  the  pause  in  Mrs.  Chitling's  flow  of  remonstrance 
that  his  interjection  was  overwhelmed  almost  before 
it  was  uttered.  Her  very  slovenliness,  expressing  as  it 
did  what  she  had  given  up  rather  than  what  she  was, 
served  in  a  measure  to  increase  the  solemn  majesty 
with  which  she  spoke ;  and  I  gathered  easily  that  my 
father's  small  wits  were  vanquished  by  the  first  charge 
of  her  impassioned  rhetoric. 

''I  thank  you  kindly,  mum,  it  is  all  jest  as  you 
say,"  he  replied,  with  the  submissiveness  of  utter 
defeat,  ''but,  you  see,  a  man  has  got  to  give  a  thought 
to  his  washin'.  It  stands  to  reason  —  don't  it  ?  "  —  he 
concluded  with  a  flash  of  direct  inspiration,  ''that 
thar  ain't  any  way  to  get  a  woman  to  wash  free  for 
you  except  to  marry  her." 

The  logic  of  this  appeared  to  impress  even  Mrs. 
Chitling,  for  she  hesitated  an  instant  before  replying, 
and  when  she  finally  spoke,  I  thought  her  tone  had 
lost  something  of  its  decision. 

'^An'  to  make  it  worse  you  took  a  yaller-headed 
one  an'  they're  the  kind  that  gad,"  she  retorted  feebly. 

My  father  sho(?k  his  head,  while  a  stubborn  expres- 
sion settled  on  his  sheepish  features. 

"Thar's  the  cookin'  an'  the  washin'  for  her  to  think 
of,"  he  said.  "I  ain't  got  any  use  for  a  woman  that 
ain't  satisfied  with  the  pleasures  of  home." 


78  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''The  moral  kind  are,  Mr.  Starr/'  rejoined  Mrs. 
Chitling,  who  had  relapsed  into  a  condition  of  placid 
indolence.  ''An'  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  since  the 
first  of  my  eleven  came,  I've  never  wanted  to  put  on 
my  bonnet  an'  set  foot  outside  that  do'.  My  kitchen 
is  my  kingdom/'  she  added,  with  dignity,  "an'  for 
my  part,  I  ain't  got  any  use  for  those  women  who 
are  everlastingly  standin'  up  for  thar  rights.  What 
does  a  woman  want  with  rights,  I  say,  when  she  can 
enjoy  all  the  virtues?  What  does  she  want  to  be 
standin'  up  for  anyway  as   long  as  she  can  set?" 

"Thar's  no  doubt  that  it  is  true,  mum,"  rejoined 
my  father;  and  when  he  took  his  leave  a  few  minutes 
afterwards,  their  relations  appeared  to  have  become 
extremely  friendly,  —  not  to  say  confidential.  For  an 
instant  I  trembled  in  my  hiding-place,  half  expecting 
to  be  delivered  into  his  hands.  But  he  departed  at 
last  without  discovering  me,  and  I  emerged  from  the 
darkness  and  stood  before  Mrs.  Chitling,  who  had 
begun  absent-mindedly  to  take  down  her  curl  papers. 

"Most  likely  it  ain't  his  fault  arter  all,"  she  ob- 
served, for  her  judgment  of  him  had  already  become 
a  part  of  the  general  softness  and  pliability  of  her 
criticism  of  life;  "he  seems  to  be  a  nice  sensible  body 
with  proper  ideas  about  women.  I  like  a  man  that 
knows  a  woman's  place,  an'  I  like  a  woman  that  knows 
it,  too.  Yo'  ma  was  a  decent,  sober,  hard-workin'  per- 
son, wa'nt  she,  Benjy?" 

I  replied  that  she  was  always  in  her  kitchen  and 
generally  in  her  washtub,  except  when  she  went  to 
funerals. 

"Well,  I  ain't  any  moral  objection  to  a  funeral  now 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  79 


s. 


an'  then,  or  some  other  sober  kind  of  entertainment," 
returned  Mrs.  Chitling,  removing  her  curl  papers  in 
order  to  put  on  fresh  ones,  ^^but  what  I  say  is  that 
the  woman  who  wants  pleasure  outside  her  do'  ain't 
the  woman  that  she  ought  to  be,  that's  all.  What 
can  she  have,  I  ax,  any  mo'  than  she's  got?  Ain't 
she  got  everything  already  that  the  men  don't  want? 
Ain't  sweetness  an'  virtue,  an'  patience  an'  long  suffer- 
ing an'  childbearin'  enough  for  her  without  her  impu- 
dently standin'  up  in  the  face  of  men  an'  axin'  for 
mo'?  Had  she  rather  have  a  vote  than  the  respect 
of  men,  an'  ain't  the  respect  of  men  enough  to  fill  any 
honest  female's  life?" 

In  the  beginning  of  her  discourse,  she  had  turned 
aside  to  slap  a  portion  of  cornmeal  into  a  cracked 
yellow  bowl,  and  after  pouring  a  little  water  out  of  a 
broken  dipper,  she  began  whipping  the  dough  with  a 
long,  irregular  stroke  that  scattered  a  shower  of  fine 
drops  at  every  revolution  of  her  hand.  Two  of  the 
children  had  got  into  a  fight  over  a  basin  of  apple 
parings,  and  she  left  her  yellow  bowl  and  separated 
them  mth  a  hand  that  bestowed  a  patch  of  wet  meal 
on  the  hair  of  one  and  on  the  face  of  another.  Not 
once  did  she  hasten  her  preparations  or  relinquish  the 
cheerful  serenity  which  endowed  her  large,  loose  figure 
with  a  kind  of  majesty. 

The  next  day  I  started  in  as  general  assistant  and 
market  boy  to  John  Chitling,  and  when  I  was  not 
sorting  over  ripe  vegetables  or  barrels  of  apples  fresh 
from  the  orchard,  I  was  toiling  up  the  long  hill,  with  a 
split  basket,  containing  somebody's  marketing,  on 
my  arm.     By  degrees  I  learned  the  names  of  John 


80  THE   ROMAXCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAX 

Cliitling's  patrons,  the  separate  ways  to  their  houses, 
which  always  seemed  di^'ided  by  absurd  distances,  and 
the  faces  of  the  negro  cooks  who  met  me  at  the  kitchen 
steps  and  relieved  me  of  my  burden.  In  the  beginning 
I  was  accompanied  on  my  rounds  by  a  fat,  smudge- 
nosed  youth  some  six  or  eight  years  my  senior,  who 
smoked  vile  tobacco  and  enlivened  the  way  by  \illain- 
ous  abuses  of  John  Chitling  and  the  universe.  For  the 
first  months,  I  fear,  my  outlook  upon  the  customers  I 
served  was  largely  coloured  by  his  narratives,  but 
when  at  last  he  dropped  off  and  went  on  a  new  job 
at  the  butcher's,  I  arrived  gradually  at  a  more  correct, 
and  certainly  a  more  charitable,  point  of  view.  By 
the  end  of  the  winter  I  had  ceased  to  believe  that 
John  Chitling  was  a  skinflint  and  his  customers  all 
vipers. 

In  the  bright  soft  weather  of  that  spring  the  city 
opened  into  a  bloom  of  faint  pink  and  white,  which  comes 
back  to  me  like  a  delicate  fragrance.  The  old  gardens 
are  gone  now,  with  their  honeysuckle  arbours,  their 
cleanly  swept  walks,  bordered  by  rows  of  miniature  box, 
their  deep,  odorous  bowers  of  microphylla  and  musk 
cluster  roses.  Yet  I  can  look  back  still  through  the 
gauzy  shadows  of  elms  and  sycamores ;  I  can  hear  still 
the  rich,  singing  call  of  the  negro  drivers,  as  the  covered 
wagons  from  country  farms  passed  sleepily  through  the 
hot  sunshine  which  fell  between  the  arching  trees ;  and 
I  can  smell  again  the  air  steeped  in  a  fragrance  that  is 
less  that  of  flowers  than  of  the  subtle  atmosphere  of  an 
unforgettable  youth.  To-day  the  city  is  the  same  city 
no  longer,  nor  is  the  man  who  writes  this  the  market 
boy  who  toiled  up  the  long  hill  in  the  blossoming  spring, 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  81 

with  the  seeds  of  the  future  quickening  in  brain  and 
heart. 

The  morning  that  I  remember  best  is  the  one  on  which 
I  carried  the  day's  marketing  to  an  old  grey  house,  with 
beds  of  wallflowers  growing  close  against  the  stuccoed 
bricks,  and  a  shrub  that  flowered  bright  yellow  glanc- 
ing through  the  tall  gate  at  the  rear.  I  had  passed  the 
wallflowers  as  was  my  custom,  and  entering  the  gate 
at  the  back,  had  delivered  my  basket  at  the  kitchen 
door,  when,  as  I  turned  to  retrace  my  steps,  I  was 
detained  by  the  scolding  voice  of  the  pink-turbaned 
negro  cook. 

^*Hi!  if  you  ain'  clean  furgit  de  car'ots!"  she  cried. 

Now  the  carrots  had  been  placed  in  the  basket,  as  I 
had  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  by  the  hands  of  John  Chit- 
ling  himself,  and  I  had  been  cautioned  at  the  time  not 
to  drop  them  out  in  my  ascent  of  the  steep  hill.  There 
was  a  lady  in  the  grey  house,  he  had  informed  me,  who 
was  supposed  to  subsist  upon  carrots  alone,  and  who 
was  in  consequence  extremely  particular  as  to  their  size 
and  flavour. 

^^Are  you  sure  they  ain't  among  the  vegetables?'' 
I  asked.     ^^I  saw  them  put  in  myself." 

^^Huh!  en  you  seed  'em  fall  out,  too,  I  lay!" 
rejoined  the  negress,  protruding  her  thick  red  lips  as 
she  turned  the  basket  upside  down  with  an  indignant 
blow. 

^'If  they're  lost,  I'll  go  back  and  bring  others,"  I 
said,  thinking  disconsolately  of  the  hill. 

^'En  you  'ould  be  back  hyer  agin  in  time  fur  sup- 
per," retorted  the  outraged  divinity.  ''Wat  you  reckon 
Miss  Mitty  wants  wid  car'ots  fur  'er  supper?     Dey  is 


82  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAI:N'   MAN 

hern,  dey  ain'  mine^  but  ef'n  dey  'us  mine  I'd  lamn  you 
twel  you  couldn't  see  ter  set.  Hit's  bad  enough  ter 
hev  ter  Hve  erlong  in  de  same  worl'  wid  de  slue- footed 
po'  white  trash  -^ddout  hevin'  dem  a-snatchin'  de 
car'ots  outer  yo'  ve'y  mouf." 

My  temper,  never  of  the  mildest,  was  stung  quickly  to 
a  retort,  and  I  was  about  to  order  her  to  hold  her  tongue 
and  return  me  my  basket,  when  the  door  into  the  house 
opened  and  shut,  and  the  little  girl  of  the  enchanted 
garden  appeared  in  the  flesh  before  me. 

''I  want  the  plum  cake  you  promised  me,  Aunt 
Mirabella,"  she  cried ;  ^^and  oh  !  I  hope  you've  stuffed 
it  full  of  plums !"  Then  her  glance  fell  upon  me  and 
I  saw  her  thick  black  eyebrows  arch  merrily  over  her 
sparkling  grey  eyes.  ^^  It's  my  boy  !  My  dear  common 
boy  !"  she  exclaimed,  with  a  rush  toward  me.  For  the 
first  time  I  noticed  then  that  she  was  dressed  in 
mourning,  and  that  her  black  clothes  intensified  the  dark 
brightness  of  her  look.  ^^Oh,  I  am  glad  to  see  you," 
she  added,  seizing  my  hand. 

I  gazed  up  at  her,  wounded  rather  than  pleased. 
^^I  shan't  be  a  common  boy  always,"  I  answered. 

^^Do  you  mind  my  calling  you  one?  If  you  do,  I 
won't,"  she  said,  and  T\dthout  waiting  a  minute, 
^'What  are  you  doing  here?  I  thought  you  lived  over 
on  Church  Hill." 

^'I  don't  now.     Ma  died  and  I  ran  away." 

^^My  mother  died,  too,"  she  returned  softly,  '^and 
then  grandmama." 

For  a  moment  there  was  a  pause.  Then  I  said  with  a 
kind  of  stubborn  pride,  ^'  I  ran  away." 

The  sadness  passed  from  her  and  she  turned  on  me 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  83 

in  a  glow  of  animation.     ''Oh,  I  should  just  love  dearly 
to  run  away !"  she  exclaimed. 

''You  couldnH.     You're  a  girl." 

"I  could,  too,  if  I  chose." 

"Then  why  don't  you  choose?  " 

"Because  of  Aunt  Mitty  and  Aunt  Matoaca.  They 
haven't  anybody  but  me." 

"I  left  my  father,"  I  replied  proudly,  "and  I  didn't 
care  one  single  bit.  That's  the  trouble  with  girls. 
They're  always  caring." 

"Well,  I'm  not  caring  fer  you,"  she  retorted  with 
crushing  effect,  shaking  back  the  soft  cloud  of  hair  on 
her  shoulders. 

"Boys  don't  care,"  I  rejoined  with  indifference, 
taking  up  my  market  basket. 

She  detained  me  Tvdth  a  glance.  "There's  one  thing 
they  care  about  —  dreadfully,"  she  said. 

''No,  there  ain't." 

Without  replying  in  words  she  went  over  to  the  stove, 
and  standing  on  tiptoe,  gingeriy  removed  a  hot  plum 
cake,  small  and  round  and  shaped  like  a  muffin,  from 
the  smoking  oven. 

"I  reckon  they  care  about  plum  cake,"  she  remarked 
tauntingly,  and  as  she  held  it  toward  me  it  smelt 
divinely. 

But  my  pride  was  in  arms,  for  I  remembered  the  cup 
of  milk  she  had  refused  disdainfully  more  than  three 
years  ago  in  our  little  kitchen. 

"No,  they  don't,"  I  replied  with  a  stoicism  that  might 
have  added  lustre  to  a  nobler  cause. 

In  my  heart  I  was  hoping  that  she  would  drop  the 
cake  into  my  basket  in  spite  of  my  protest,  not  only 


U  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

sparing  my  pride  by  an  act  of  magnanimity,  but  allowing 
me  at  the  same  time  the  felicity  of  munching  the  plums 
on  my  way  back  to  the  Old  Market.  But  the  next 
moment,  to  my  surprise  and  indignation,  she  took  a  gener- 
ous bite  of  the  very  dainty  she  had  offered  me,  making, 
while  she  ate  it,  provoking  faces  of  a  rapturous  enjoy- 
ment. 

I  was  lingering  in  the  doorway  with  a  scornful  yet 
fascinated  gaze  on  the  diminishing  cake,  when  the  pink- 
turbaned  cook,  who  had  gone  out  to  empty  a  basin  of 
pea  shells,  entered  and  resumed  her  querulous  abuse. 

'^De  bes'  thing  you  kin  do  is  ter  clear  out,^^  she  said, 
''you  en  yo'  car'ots.  He  ain^  fit^n  fur  you  ter  tu'n  yo' 
eyes  on,  honey,"  she  added  to  the  child,  ''en  I  don' 
reckon  yo'  ma  would  let  yo'  wipe  yo'  foot  on  'im  ef n 
she  ^uz  alive.     Yes'm,  Miss  Mitty,  I'se  a-comin'  1" 

Her  voice  rose  high  in  response  to  a  call  from  the 
house,  but  before  she  could  leave  the  kitchen,  the  door 
behind  the  little  girl  opened,  and  a  lady  said  reprov- 
ingly :  — 

''Sally,  Sally,  haven't  I  told  you  to  keep  away  from 
the  kitchen?'' 

^'Oh,  Aunt  Mitty,  I  had  to  come  for  my  plum  cake," 
pleaded  Sally,  "and  Aunt  Matoaca  said  that  I  might." 

An  elderly  lady,  all  soft  black  and  old  yellow  lace, 
stood  in  the  doorway.  Then  before  she  could  answer 
a  second  one  appeared  at  her  side,  and  I  had  a  vision  of 
two  slender  maidenly  figures,  who  reminded  me,  meek 
heads,  drooping  faces,  and  creamy  lace  caps,  of  the  wall- 
flowers in  the  border  outside  blooming  in  a  patch  of 
sunshine  close  against  the  old  grey  house.  At  first  there 
seemed  to  me  to  be  no  visible  difference  between  them, 


CONCERNING   CARROTS  85 

but  after  a  minute,  I  saw  that  the  second  one  was  gentler 
and  smaller,  with  a  softer  smile  and  a  more  shrinking 
manner. 

'^It  was  my  fault,  Sister  Mitty,''  she  said,  ^'I  told 
Sally  that  she  might  come  after  her  plum  cake." 

Her  voice  was  so  low  and  mild  that  I  was  amazed  the 
mext  instant  to  hear  the  taller  lady  respond. 

^^Of  course,  Sister  Matoaca,  you  were  at  liberty  to  do 
as  you  thought  right,  but  I  cannot  conceal  from  you  that 
I  consider  a  person  of  your  dangerous  views  an  unsafe 
guardian  for  a  young  girl." 

She  advanced  a  step  into  the  kitchen,  and  as  Miss 
Matoaca  followed  her  she  replied  in  an  abashed  and 
faltering  voic^ :  — 

'^I  am  sorry.  Sister  Mitty,  that  we  do  not  agree  in 
our  principles.  There  is  nothing  else  that  I  will  not 
sacrifice  to  you,  but  when  a  question  of  principle  is 
concerned,  however  painful  it  is  to  me,  I  must  be  firm." 

At  this,  while  I  was  wondering  what  terrible  thing  a 
principle  could  possibly  turn  out  to  be,  I  saw  Miss  Mitty 
draw  herself  up  until  she  fairly  towered  like  a  marble 
column  about  the  shrinking  figure  in  front  of  her. 

^^But  such  principles,  Sister  Matoaca  !"  she  excaimed. 

A  flush  rose  to  the  clear  brown  surface  of  the  little 
lady's  cheek,  and  more  than  ever,  I  thought,  she 
resembled  one  of  the  wallflowers  in  the  border  outside. 
Her  head,  with  its  shiny  parting  of  soft  chestnut  hair, 
was  lifted  with,  sl  mild,  yet  spirited  gesture,  and  I  saw 
the  delicate  lace  at  her  throat  and  wrists  tremble  as  if 
a  faint  wind  had  passed. 

^^  Remember,  sister,  that  my  ancestors  as  well  as 
yours  fought  against  oppression  in  three  wars,"  she 


86  THE   ROMANCE    OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

said  in  her  sweet  low  voice  that  had,  to  my  ears,  the 
sound  of  a  silver  bell,  '^and  it  has  become  my  painful 
duty,  after  long  deliberation  with  my  conscience,  to 
inform  you  —  I  consider  that  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation is  tyranny." 

^' Sally,  go  into  the  house,"  commanded  Miss  Mitty, 
''I  cannot  permit  you  to  hear  such  dangerous  senti- 
ments expressed." 

^'Let  me  go.  Sister  Mitty,"  said  Miss  Matoaca,  for  the 
flash  of  spirit  had  left  her  as  wan  and  drooping  as  a 
blighted  flower;  ''I  will  go  mj^self,"  and  turning  meekly, 
she  left  the  kitchen,  while  Sally  took  a  second  cake  from 
the  oven  and  came  over  to  where  I  stood. 

^'I'll  just  put  this  into  your  basket  anyway,"  she 
remarked,  ^^even  if  you  don't  care  about  it." 

'Tome,  child,"  urged  Miss  Mitty,  waiting,  ''but 
give  the  boy  his  cake  first." 

The  cake  was  put  into  my  hands,  not  into  the  basket, 
and  I  took  a  large,  delicious  mouthful  of  it  while  I 
went  by  the  meek  wallflowers  standing  in  a  row,  lik^ 
prim  maiden  ladies,  against  the  old  grey  house. 


CHAPTER  VII 

IN   WHICH   I   MOUNT   THE    FIRST   RUNG   OF   THE    LADDER 

As  I  passed  through  the  gate  and  turned  down 
Franklin  Street  under  a  great  sycamore  that  grew 
midway  of  the  pavement,  I  vowed  passionately  in  my 
heart  that  I  would  remain  '^a  common  boy''  no  longer. 
With  the  plum  cake  in  my  hand,  and  the  delicious 
taste  of  it  in  my  mouth,  I  placed  my  basket  on  the 
ground  and  leaned  against  the  silvery  body  of  the 
tree,  with  my  eyes  on  Samuel,  sitting  very  erect,  with 
his  paws  held  up,  his  tail  wagging,  and  his  expectant 
gaze  on  my  face. 

''What  can  w^e  do  about  it,  Samuel?  How  can  we 
begin?  Are  we  common  to  the  bone,  I  wonder?  and 
how  are  we  going  to  change  ?  " 

But  Samuel's  thoughts  were  on  the  last  bit  of  cake, 
and  when  I  gave  it  to  him,  he  stopped  begging  like  a 
wise  dog  that  has  what  he  wanted,  and  lay  down  on  the 
sidewalk  with  his  eyes  closed  and  his  nose  between 
his  outstretched  paws. 

A  gentle  wind  stirred  overhead,  and  I  smelt  the  sharp 
sweet  fragrance  of  the  sycamore,  which  cast  a  delicate 
lacework  of  shadows  on  the  crooked  brick  pavement. 
Not  only  the  great  sycamore  and  myself  and  Samuel, 
but  the  whole  blossoming  city  appeared  to  me  in  a 
dream;    and  as  I  glanced  down  the  quiet  street,  over 

87 


88  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

which  the  large,  slow  shadows  moved  to  and  fro,  I  saw 
through  a  mist  the  blurred  grey-green  foliage  in  the 
Capitol  Square.  In  the  ground  the  seeds  of  the  new 
South,  which  was  in  truth  but  the  resurrected  spirit 
of  the  old,  still  germinated  in  darkness.  But  the  air, 
though  I  did  not  know  it,  was  already  full  of  the  promise 
of  the  industrial  awakening,  the  constructive  impulse, 
the  recovered  energy,  that  was  yet  to  be,  and  in  which 
I,  leaning  there  a  barefooted  market  boy,  was  to  have 
my  part. 

An  aged  negress,  in  a  red  bandanna  turban,  with  a 
pipe  in  her  mouth,  stopped  to  rest  in  the  shadow  of  the 
sycamore,  placing  her  basket,  full  of  onions  and  toma- 
toes, on  the  pavement  beside  my  empty  one. 

^'Do  you  know  who  lives  in  that  grey  house, 
Mammy  ?^'  I  asked. 

Twisting  the  stem  of  her  pipe  to  the  corner  of  her 
mouth,  she  sat  nodding  at  me,  while  the  wind  fluttered 
the  wisps  of  grizzled  hair  escaping  from  beneath  her 
red  and  yellow  head-dress. 

"Go  Vay,  chile,  whar  you  done  come  f^om?'^  she 
demanded  suspiciously.  ^' Ain't  you  ever  hyern  er 
Marse  Bland?     He  riz  me/' 

I  shook  my  head,  sufficiently  humbled  by  my  ple- 
beian ignorance. 

^^Are  the  two  old  ladies  his  daughters?'' 

'^Wat  you  call  Miss  Mitty  en  Miss  Matoaca  olefur? 
Dey  ain'  ole,"  she  responded  indignantly.  ^'I  use'n 
ter  b'long  ter  Marse  Bland  befo'  de  war,  en  I  kin  rec- 
ollect de  day  dat  e'vy  one  er  dem  wuz  born.  Dey's 
all  daid  now  cep'n  Miss  Mitty  en  Miss  Matoaca,  en 
Marse  Bland  he's  daid,  too.'' 


I    MOUNT    THE    FIRST    RUNG    OF    THE    LADDER     89 

''Then  who  is  the  little  girl?  Where  did  she  come 
from?^' 

There  was  a  dandelion  blooming  in  a  tuft  of  grass 
between  the  loosened  bricks  of  the  pavement,  and  I 
imprisoned  it  in  my  bare  toes  while  I  waited  impa- 
tiently for  her  answer. 

''Dat's  Miss  Sary^s  chile.  She  ran  away  wid  Marse 
Harry  Mickleborough,  in  Marse  Bland's  lifetime,  en 
he  'ouldn't  lay  eyes  on  her  f'om  dat  day  ter  his  deaf. 
Miss  Mitty  en  Miss  Matoaca  dey  ain'  ole,  but  Miss 
Sary  she  want  nuttin'  mo'n  a  chile  w'en  she  went  off.'^ 

^'  But  why  did  her  father  never  see  her  again?'' 

^^Dat  was  'long  er  Marse  Mickleborough,  boy,  but 
I  ain'  gwine  inter  de  ens  en  de  outs  er  dat.  Hit  mought 
er  been  becaze  er  Marse  Mickleborough's  fiddle,  but 
I  ain'  sayin'  dat  hit  wuz  er  dat  hit  wuzn't.  Dar's 
some  folks  dat  cyarn'  stan'  de  squeak  er  a  fiddle,  en 
he  sutney  did  fiddle  a  mont'ous  lot.  He  usen  ter  beat 
Miss  Sary,  too,  I  hyern  tell,  jes  es  you  mought  hev 
prognosticate  er  a  fiddlin'  man;  but  she  ain'  never 
come  home  twel  atter  her  pa  wuz  daid  en  buried  over 
yonder  in  Hollywood.  Den  w'en  de  T\ill  wuz  read 
Marse  Bland  had  lef  ev'y  las'  cent  clean  away  f  cm  her 
en  de  chile.  Atter  Miss  Mitty  en  Miss  Matoaca  die 
de  hull  pa'cel  er  hit's  er  gwine  ter  some  no  'count  hos- 
pital whar  dey  take  live  folks  ter  pieces  en  den  put  'em 
tergedder  agin." 

"You  mean  the  little  girl  won't  get  a  blessed  cent?" 
I  asked,  and  my  toes  pinched  the  head  of  the  dande- 
lion until  it  dropped  from  its  stem. 

"Ain't  I  done  tole  you  how  'tis?"  demanded  the 
negress  in  exasperation,  rising  from  her  seat  on  the 


dO  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

curbing,  ^^en  wat  mek  you  keep  on  axin^  over  wat  1 
done  tole  you?'^ 

She  went  of!  muttering  to  herself,  while  she  clenched 
the  stem  of  her  corncob  pipe  between  her  toothless 
gums;  and  picking  up  my  basket  and  whistling  to 
Samuel,  I  walked  slowly  downhill,  with  the  problem 
of  the  future  working  excitedly  in  my  brain. 

'^A  market  boy  is  obliged  to  be  a  common  boy,^' 
I  thought,  and  immediately :  '^Then  I  will  not  be  a 
market  boy  any  longer. '^ 

So  hopeless  the  next  instant  did  my  present  con- 
dition of  abject  ignorance  appear  to  me,  that  I  found 
myself  regretting  that  I  had  not  asked  advice  of  the 
aged  negress  who  had  rested  beside  me  in  the  shadow 
of  the  sycamore.  I  wondered  if  she  would  consider 
the  selling  of  newspapers  a  less  degrading  employment 
than  the  hawking  of  vegetables,  and  with  the  thought, 
I  saw  stretching  before  me,  in  all  its  alluring  brightness, 
that  royal  road  of  success  which  leads  from  the  castle  of 
dreams.  One  instant  I  resolved  to  start  life  as  a  fruit 
vender  on  the  train,  and  the  next  I  was  wildly  imagin- 
ing myself  the  president  of  the  Great  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  Railroad,  with  a  jingling  bunch  of  seals 
and  a  gold-headed  stick.  When  at  last  I  reached  the 
Old  Market  I  found  that  the  gayety  had  departed  from 
it,  and  it  appeared  slovenly  and  disgusting  to  my 
awakened  eyes.  The  fruit  and  vegetables,  so  fresh 
and  inviting  in  the  early  morning,  were  now  stale  and 
wilted ;  a  swarm  of  flies  hung  like  a  black  cloud  around 
the  joint  suspended  before  the  stall  of  Perkins,  the 
butcher ;  and  as  I  passed  the  stand  of  the  fish  dealer, 
the  ©dour  of  decaying  fish  entered  my  nostrils.     Was 


I   MOUNT   THE   FIRST   RUNG   OF   THE   LADDER     91 

it  the  same  place  I  had  left  only  a  few  hours  before, 
or  what  sudden  change  in  myself  had  revealed  to  me 
the  grim  ugliness  of  its  aspect?  ^^He's  a  common 
boy,"  the  little  girl  had  said  of  me  almost  four  years 
ago,  and  I  felt  now,  as  I  had  felt  then,  the  sting  of  a 
whip  on  my  bare  flesh  at  her  words.  Come  what  might 
I  would  cease  to  be  ''sl  common  boy"  from  that  hour. 

In  the  afternoon  I  bought  an  armful  of  ^^The  Evening 
Planet,"  and  wandered  up  Franklin  Street  on  a  venture, 
crying  the  papers  aloud  with  an  agreeable  assurance 
that  I  had  deserted  huckstering  to  enter  journalism. 
As  I  passed  the  garden  of  the  old  grey  house  my  voice 
rang  out  shrilly,  yet  with  a  quavering  note  in  it, 
^^Eve-ning  Pla-net!"  and  almost  before  the  sound 
had  passed  under  the  sycamores,  the  gate  in  the  wall 
opened  cautiously  and  one  of  the  ladies  called  to  me 
timidly  with  her  face  pressed  to  the  crack.  The  two 
sisters  were  so  much  alike  that  it  was  a  minute  before 
I  discovered  the  one  who  spoke  to  be  Miss  Matoaca. 

^^Will  you  please  let  me  have  a  paper,"  she  said 
apologetically,  ^^we  do  not  take  it.  There  is  no  gentle- 
man in  the  house.  I  —  I  am  interested  in  the  mar- 
riages and  deaths,"  she  added,  in  a  louder  tone  as  if 
some  one  were  standing  close  to  her  beyond  the  garden 
gate. 

As  I  gave  her  the  paper  she  stretched  out  her  hand, 
under  its  yellowed  lace  ruffle,  and  dropped  the  money 
into  my  palm. 

^^I  shall  be  obliged  to  3'ou  if  you  will  call  out  every 
day  when  you  pass  here,"  she  remarked,  after  a  minute ; 
^'I  am  almost  always  in  the  garden  at  this  hour." 

I  promised  her  that  I  should  certainly  remember, 


$2  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

and  she  was  about  to  draw  inside  the  garden  with  a 
gentle;  flower-like  motion  of  her  head,  when  a  gentle- 
man, with  a  gold-headed  walking-stick  in  his  hand, 
lunged  suddenly  round  the  smaller  sycamore  at  the 
corner,  and  entrapped  her  between  the  wall  and  the 
gate  before  she  had  time  to  retreat. 

'^So  IVe  caught  you  at  it,  eh.  Miss  Matoaca!"  he 
exclaimed,  shaking  a  pudgy  forefinger  into  her  face, 
with  an  air  of  playful  gallantry.  ^^Bu}dng  news- 
papers !^^ 

Poor  Miss  Matoaca,  fluttering  like  a  leaf  before  this 
onslaught  of  chivalry,  could  only  drop  her  bright  brown 
eyes  to  the  ground  and  flush  a  delicate  pink,  which 
the  General  must  have  admired. 

^^They  —  they  are  excellent  to  keep  away  moths!'' 
she  stammered. 

The  sly  and  merry  look,  which  I  discovered  after- 
wards to  be  his  invincible  weapon  with  the  ladies, 
appeared  instantly  in  his  watery  grey  eyes. 

^^And  you  don't  even  glance  at  the  political  head- 
lines?    Ah,  confess.  Miss  Matoaca." 

He  was  very  stout,  very  red  in  the  face,  very  round  in 
the  stomach,  very  roguish  in  the  eyes,  yet  I  realised 
even  then  that  some  twenty  years  before  —  when  the 
results  of  his  sportive  masculinity  had  not  become 
visible  in  his  appearance  —  he  must  have  been  hand- 
some enough  to  have  melted  even  Miss  Matoaca's 
heart.  Like  a  faint  lingering  beam  of  autumn  sun- 
shine, this  comeliness,  this  blithe  and  unforgettable 
charm  of  youth,  still  hovered  about  his  heavy  and 
plethoric  figure.  Across  his  expansive  front  there 
stretched  a  massive  gold  chain  of  a  unique   pattern, 


I    MOUNT   THE   FIRST   RUNG   OF   THE   LADDER     93 

and  from  this  chain,  I  saw  now,  there  hung  a  jingling 
and  fascinating  bunch  of  seals.  The  gentleman  I  might 
have  forgotten,  but  that  bunch  of  seals  had  occupied 
for  three  long  years  a  particular  corner  of  my  memory ; 
and  in  the  instant  that  my  eyes  fell  upon  it,  I  saw 
again  the  ragged  hill  covered  with  pokeberry,  yarrow, 
and  stunted  sumach,  the  anchored  vessel  outlined 
against  the  rosy  sunset,  and  the  panting  stranger,  who 
had  stopped  to  rest  with  his  hand  on  my  shoulder.  I 
remembered  suddenly  that  I  wanted  to  become  the 
president  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic 
Railroad. 

He  stood  there  now  in  all  his  redundant  flesh  before 
me,  his  large  mottled  cheeks  inflated  with  laughter, 
his  full  red  lips  pursed  into  a  gay  and  mocking  expres- 
sion. To  me  he  personified  success,  happiness,  achieve- 
ment —  the  other  shining  extreme  from  my  own  ob- 
scurity and  commonness;  but  the  effect  upon  poor 
little  Miss  Matoaca  was  quite  the  opposite,  I  judged 
the  next  minute,  from  the  one  that  he  had  intended. 
I  watched  her  fragile  shoulders  straighten  and  a  glow 
rather  than  a  flash  of  spirit  pass  into  her  uplifted  face. 

^'With  your  record.  General  Bolingbroke,"  she  said, 
in  a  quavering  yet  courageous  voice,  ^'you  may  re- 
fuse your  approval,  but  not  your  respect,  to  a  matter 
of  principle.^' 

The  roguish  twinkle,  which  was  still  so  charming, 
appeared  like  the  lost  spirit  of  youth  in  the  General's 
eyes. 

'^\h.  Miss  Matoaca,^'  he  rejoined,  in  his  most  gallant 
manner,  '^principles  do  not  apply  to  ladies !'' 

At  this  Miss  Matoaca  drew  herself  up  almost  haugh- 


94  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

tilv;  and  I  felt  as  I  looked  at  her  that  only  her  sex  had 
kept  her  from  becoming  a  general  herself. 

^'It  is  very  painful  to  me  to  disagree  with  the  gentle- 
men I  know/'  she  said;  '^but  when  it  is  a  matter  of 
conviction  I  feel  that  even  the  respect  of  gentlemen 
should  be  sacrificed.  My  sister  Mitty  considers  me 
quite  indelicate,  but  I  cannot  conceal  from  you  that  — '' 
her  voice  broke  and  dropped,  but  rose  again  instantly 
with  a  clear,  silvery  sound,  ^^I  consider  that  taxation 
without  representation  is  tyranny. '^ 

A  virgin  martyr  refusing  to  sacrifice  a  dove  to  Venus 
might  have  uttered  her  costly  heresy  in  such  a  voice 
and  with  such  a  look ;  but  the  General  met  it  suavely 
with  a  flourish  of  his  wide-brimmed  hat  and  a  blan- 
dishing smile.  He  was  one  of  those  gentlemen  of  the 
old  school,  I  came  to  know  later,  to  whom  it  was  an 
inherent  impossibility  to  appear  without  affectation 
in  the  presence  of  a  member  of  the  opposite  sex.  A 
high  liver,  and  a  good  fellow  every  inch  of  him,  he  could 
be  natural,  racy,  charming,  and  without  vanity,  when 
in  the  midst  of  men;  but  let  so  much  as  the  rustle  of 
a  petticoat  sound  on  the  pavement,  and  he  would  begin 
to  strut  and  plume  himself  as  instinctively  as  the  cock 
in  the  barnyard. 

^^But  what  would  you  do  with  a  vote,  my  dear 
Miss  Matoaca,"  he  protested  airily.  ^^Put  it  into  a 
pie?'' 

His  witticism,  which  he  hardly  seemed  aware  of 
until  it  was  uttered,  afforded  him  the  next  instant  an 
enjoyment  so  hilarious  that  I  saw  his  waist  shake  like 
a  bowl  of  jelly  between  the  flapping  folds  of  his  alpaca 
coat.     While  he  stood  there  with  his  large  white  cravat 


I    MOUNT    THE    FIRST    RUNG    OF    THE    LADDER     95 

twisted  awry  by  the  swelling  of  his  crimson  neck,  and 
his  legS;  in  a  pair  of  duck  trousers,  planted  very  far 
apart  on  the  sidewalk,  he  presented  the  aspect  of  a 
man  who  felt  himself  to  be  a  graduate  in  the  experi- 
mental science  of  what  he  probabl}^  would  have  called 
^^the  sex.'^  When  I  heard  him  frequently  alluded  to 
afterwards  as  ^^a  gay  old  bird/'  I  wondered  that  I  had 
not  fitted  the  phrase  to  him  as  he  fixed  his  swimming^, 
parrot-Mke  eyes  on  the  flushed  face  of  Miss  Matoaca. 

^^If  that's  all  the  use  you'd  make  of  it,  I  think  we 
might  safely  trust  it  to  you,"  he  observed  with  a  flat- 
tering glance.  ^^A  woman  who  can  make  your  mince 
pies,  dear  lady,  need  not  worry  about  her  rights." 

^'How  is  George,  General?"  asked  Miss  Matoaca, 
with  an  air  of  gentle,  offended  dignity.  ^^I  heard  he 
had  come  to  live  with  you  since  his  mother's  death." 

^^So  he  has,  the  rascal,"  responded  the  General,  ^'and 
a  nephew  under  twelve  years  of  age  is  a  severe  strain  on 
the  habits  of  an  elderly  bachelor." 

The  corners  of  Miss  Matoaca's  mouth  grew  suddenly 
prim. 

^^I  suppose  you  could  hardly  close  the  door  on  your 
sister's  orphan  son,"  she  observed,  in  a  severer  tone 
than  I  had  yet  heard  her  use. 

He  sighed,  and  the  sigh  appeared  to  pass  in  the  forn* 
of  a  tremor  through  his  white-trousered  legs. 

^^Ah,  that's  it,"  he  rejoined.  ^^You  ladies  ought  to 
be  thankful  that  you  haven't  our  responsibilities. 
No,  no,  thank  you,  I  won't  come  in.  My  respects  ta 
Miss  Mitty  and  to  yourself." 

The  gate  closed  softly  as  if  after  a  love  tryst.  Miss 
Matoaca  disappeared  into  the  garden,  and  the  General's 


96  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

expression  changed  from  its  jocose  and  smiling  flattery 
to  a  look  of  genuine  annoyance. 

'^No,  I  don't  want  a  paper,  boy!''  he  exclaimed. 

With  a  wave  of  his  gold-headed  cane  in  my  direction, 
he  would  have  passed  on  his  way,  but  at  his  first  step, 
happily  for  me,  his  toe  struck  against  a  loosened  brick, 
and  the  pain  of  the  shock  caused  him  to  bend  over  and 
begin  rubbing  his  gouty  foot,  with  an  exclamation 
that  sounded  suspiciously  like  an  oath.  Where  was 
the  roguish  humour  now  in  the  small  watery  grey  eyes  ? 
The  gout,  not  ^Hhe  sex,"  had  him  ignominiously  by  the 
heeL 

'^If  you  please.  General,  do  you  remember  me?" 
I  enquired  timidly. 

Still  clasping  his  foot,  he  turned  a  crimson  glare 
upon  me.  ^^ Damnation!  —  I  mean  Good  Lord,  have 
mercy  on  my  toe,  why  should  I  remember  you?" 

^'It  was  on  Church  Hill  almost  four  years  ago,  you 
promised,"  I  suggested  as  a  gentle  spur  to  his  memory. 

^'And  you  expect  me  to  remember  what  I  promised 
four  years  ago  ?"  he  rejoined  with  a  sly  twinkle.  ^^  Why, 
bless  my  soul,  you're  worse  than  a  woman." 

^^You  asked  me,  sir,  if  I  wanted  to  grow  up  and  be 
President,"  I  returned,  not  without  resentment. 

Eeleasing  his  ankle  abruptly,  he  stood  up  and  slapped 
his  thigh. 

'^  Great  Jehosaphat !  If  you  ain't  the  little  chap 
who  was  content  to  be  nothing  less  than  God  Al- 
mighty!" he  exclaimed.  ^^I've  told  that  story  a 
hundred  times  if  I've  told  it  once." 

'^Then  perhaps  you'll  help  me  a  little,  sir,"  I  sug- 
gested. 


I   MOUNT   THE   FIRST   RUNG   OF   THE   LADDER     97 

'^Help  you  to  become  God  Almighty?''  he  chuckled. 

*^No,  sir,  help  me  to  be  the  president  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad.'' 

^^Then  you'll  be  satisfied  with  the  lesser  office;  eh?" 

'^I  shall,  sir,  if  —  if  there  isn't  anything  better." 

Again  he  slapped  his  thigh  and  again  he  chuckled. 
'^But  I've  got  one  boy  already.  I  don't  want  an- 
other," he  protested.  ^^Good  Lord,  one  is  bad  enough 
when  he's  not  your  own." 

Whether  or  not  he  really  supposed  that  I  was  a 
serious  applicant  for  adoption,  I  cannot  say,  but  his 
face  put  on  immediately  an  harassed  and  suffering 
look. 

^^Have  you  ever  had  a  twinge  of  gout,  boy?"  he 
enquired. 

^^No,  sir." 

'^Then  you're  lucky  —  damned  lucky.  When  you 
go  to  bed  to-night  you  get  down  on  your  knees  and 
thank  the  Lord  that  you've  never  had  a  twinge  of 
gout.  You  can  even  eat  a  strawberry  without  feeling 
it,  I  reckon?" 

I  replied  humbly  that  I  certainly  could  if  I  ever  got 
the  chance. 

^'And  yet  you  ain't  satisfied  —  you're  asking  to 
be  president  of  a  damned  railroad  —  a  boy  who  can 
eat  a  strawberry  without  feeling  it !" 

He  moved  on,  limping  slightly,  and  like  a  small 
persistent  devil  of  temptation,  I  kept  at  his  elbow. 

'^Isn't  there  anything  that  you  can  do  for  me,  sir?" 
I  asked,  at  the  point  of  tears. 

^^Do  for  you?  Bless  my  soul,  boy,  if  I  had  your 
joints  I  shouldn't  want  anything  that  anybody  could 


98  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

do  for  me.  Can't  you  walk,  hop,  skip,  jump,  all  you 
want  to?" 

This  was  so  manifestly  unfair  that  I  retorted  stub- 
bornly, ''But  I  don't  want  to." 

He  glanced  down  on  me  with  a  flicker  of  his  still 
charming  smile. 

''Well,  you  would  if  you  were  president  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic  and  had  looked  into  the 
evening  paper,"  he  said. 

"Are  you  president  of  it  still,  sir?" 

"Eh?  eh?  You'll  be  wanting  to  push  me  out  of 
my  job  next,  I  suppose?" 

"I'd  like  to  have  it  when  you  are  dead,  sir,"  I  replied. 

But  this  instead  of  gratifying  the  General  appeared 
plainly  to  annoy  him.  "There  now,  you'd  better  run 
along  and  sell  your  papers,"  he  remarked  irritably. 
"If  I  give  you  a  dime,  will  you  quit  bothering  me?" 

"I'd  rather  you'd  give  me  a  start,  sir,  as  you  prom- 
ised." 

"Good  Lord  !  There  you  are  again  !  Do  you  know 
the  meaning  of  n-u-i-s-a-n-c-e,  boy?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Well,  ask  your  teacher  the  next  time  you  go  to 
school." 

"I  don't  go  to  school.     I  work." 

"You  work,  eh?  Well,  look  here,  let's  see.  What 
do  you  want  of  me?" 

"I  thought  you  might  tell  me  how  to  begin.  I  don't 
want  to  stay  common." 

For  a  moment  his  attention  seemed  fixed  on  a  gold 
pencil  which  he  had  taken  from  his  waistcoat  pocket. 
Then  opening  his   card-case  he  scribbled  a  line  on  a 


I   MOUNT   THE   FIRST   RUNG   OF   THE   LADDER     99 

card  and  handed  it  to  me.  ^^If  you  choose  you  may 
take  that  to  Bob  Brackett  at  the  Old  Dominion  To- 
bacco Works,  on  Twenty-fifth  Street,  near  the  river/' 
he  said,  not  unkindly.  ^^If  he  happens  to  want  a 
boy,  he  may  give  you  a  job;  but  remember,  I  don't 
promise  you  that  he  will  want  one,  —  and  if  he  does, 
it  isn't  likely  he'd  make  you  president  on  the  spot," 
he  concluded,  with  a  chuckle. 

Waving  a  gesture  of  dismissal  he  started  off  at  a 
hobble;  then  catching  the  eye  of  a  lady  in  a  passing 
carriage,  he  straightened  himself,  bowed  with  a  gallant 
flourish  of  his  wide-brimmed  hat,  and  went  on  with 
a  look  of  agony  but  a  jaunty  pace.  As  I  turned,  a 
minute  later,  to  discover  who  could  have  wrought  this 
startling  change  in  the  behaviour  of  the  General,  an 
open  surrey,  the  bottom  filled  with  a  pink  cloud  of  wild 
azaleas,  stopped  at  the  curbing  before  the  grey  house, 
and  the  faces  of  Miss  Mitty  and  Sally  shone  upon  me 
over  the  blossoms.  The  child  was  coloured  like  a 
flow^er  from  the  sun  and  Tvind,  and  there  was  a  soft 
dewy  look  about  her  flushed  cheeks,  and  her  very  full 
red  lips.  At  the  corner  of  her  mouth,  near  her  square 
little  chin,  a  tiny  white  scar  show^ed  like  a  dimple, 
giving  to  her  lower  lip  when  she  laughed  an  expression 
of  charming  archness.  I  remember  these  things  now 
— :  at  the  moment  there  was  no  room  for  them  in  my 
whirling  thoughts. 

^^Oh!"  cried  the  little  girl  in  a  burst  of  happiness, 
''there's  my  boy !" 

The  next  minute  she  had  leaped  out  of  the  carriage 
and  was  bounding  across  the  pavement.  Her  arms 
were  filled  with  azalea,  and  loosened  petals  fluttered 


100  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

like  a  swarm  of  pink  and  white  moths  around 
her. 

^^What  are  you  doing,  boy?^'  she  asked.  ^^ Where 
is  your  basket?'^ 

^^It's  at  the  market.     I'm  selling  papers.^' 

'^Come,  Sally/'  commanded  Miss  Mitty,  stepping 
out  of  the  surrey  with  the  rest  of  the  flowers.  ^'You 
must  not  stop  in  the  street  to  talk  to  people  you  don't 
know." 

^^But  I  do  know  him,  Aunt  Mitty,  he  brings  our 
marketing." 

^'Well,  come  in  anyway.  You  are  breaking  the 
flowers." 

The  strong,  heady  perfume  filled  my  nostrils,  though 
when  I  remember  it  now  it  changes  to  the  scent  of 
wallflowers,  which  clings  always  about  my  memory 
of  the  old  grey  house,  with  its  delicate  lace  curtains 
draped  back  from  the  small  square  window-panes  as  if 
a  face  looked  out  on  the  crooked  pavement. 

^^ Please,  Aunt  Mitty,  let  me  buy  a  paper,"  begged 
the  child. 

^^  A  paper,  Sally !  What  on  earth  would  you  do 
with  a  paper?" 

^^  Couldn't  I  roll  up  my  hair  in  it.  Auntie  ?" 

^^You  don't  roll  up  your  hair  in  newspapers.  Here, 
come  in.     I  can't  wait  any  longer." 

Lingering  an  instant,  Sally  leaned  toward  me  over 
the  pink  cloud  of  azalea.  ^^I'd  just  love  to  play  with 
you  and  Samuel,"  she  said  with  the  sparkling  anima- 
tion I  remembered  from  our  first  meeting,  '^but  dear 
Aunt  Mitty  has  so  much  pride,  you  know." 

She  bent  still  lower,  gave  Samuel  an  impassioned 


I   MOUNT   THE   FIRST   RUN&.-O-F   THE  liOIJ^FP.     101 

hug  with  her  free  arm,  and  then  turning  quickly  away 
ran  up  the  short  flight  of  steps  and  disappeared  into 
the  house  The  next  instant  the  door  closed  sharply 
after  her,  and  only  the  small  rosy  petals  fluttering  m  the 
wind  were  left  to  prove  to  me  that  I  was  really  awake 
and  it  was  not  a  dream. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN  WHICH  MY  EDUCATION  BEGINS 

There  was  no  lingering  at  kitchen  doorways  with 
scolding  white-turbaned  cooks  next  morning,  for 
as  soon  as  I  had  delivered  the  marketing,  I  returned 
the  basket  to  John  Chitling,  and  set  out  down  Twenty- 
fifth  Street  in  the  direction  of  the  river.  As  I  went  on, 
a  dry,  pungent  odour  seemed  to  escape  from  the  pave- 
ment beneath  and  invade  the  air.  The  earth  was 
drenched  with  it,  the  crumbling  bricks,  the  negro  hovels, 
the  few  sickly  ailantus  trees,  exuded  the  sharp  scent, 
and  even  the  wind  brought  stray  wafts,  as  from  a 
giant's  pipe,  when  it  blew  in  gusts  up  from  the  river- 
bottom.  Overhead  the  sky  appeared  to  hang  flat 
and  low  as  if  seen  through  a  thin  brown  veil,  and  the 
ancient  warehouses,  sloping  toward  the  river,  rose  like 
sombre  prisons  out  of  the  murky  air.  It  was  still 
before  the  introduction  of  modern  machinery  into  the 
factories,  and  as  I  approached  the  rotting  wooden 
steps  which  led  into  the  largest  building,  loose  leaves 
of  tobacco,  scattered  in  the  unloading,  rustled  with  a 
sharp,  crackling  noise  under  my  feet. 

Inside,  a  clerk  on  a  high  stool,  with  a  massive  ledger 
before  him,  looked  up  at  my  entrance,  and  stuck  his  pen 
behind  his  ear  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 

^^A  gentleman  told  me  you  might  want  a  boy,  sir," 
I  began. 

102 


IX   WHICH   MY   EDUCATIOX   BEGINS  103 

He  got  down  from  his  stool,  and  sauntering  across 
the  room,  took  a  long  drink  from  a  bucket  of  water 
that  stood  by  the  door. 

^'What  gentleman?"  he  enquired,  as  he  flirted  a  few 
drops  on  the  steps  outside,  and  returned  the  tin  dipper 
to  the  rusty  nail  over  the  bucket. 

I  drew  out  the  card,  which  I  had  kept  carefully 
wrapped  in  a  piece  of  brown  paper  in  my  trousers' 
pocket.  When  I  handed  it  to  him,  he  looked  at 
it  with  a  low  whistle  and  stood  twirling  it  in  hif 
fingers. 

^^The  gentleman  owns  about  nine-tenths  of  the  busi- 
ness," he  remarked  for  my  information.  Then  turn- 
ing his  head  he  called  over  his  shoulder  to  some  one 
hidden  behind  the  massive  ledgers  on  the  desk.  '^I 
say,  Bob,  here's  a  boy  the  General's  sent  along. 
What'll  you  do  T\dth  him?" 

Bob,  a  big,  blowzy  man,  who  appeared  to  be  upon 
terms  of  intimacy  with  every  clerk  in  the  office,  came 
leisurely  out  into  the  room,  and  looked  me  over  mth 
what  I  felt  to  be  a  shrewd  and  yet  not  unkindly 
glance.  ^^It's  the  second  he's  sent  down  in  two  weeks," 
he  observed,  ^^but  this  one  seems  sprightly  enough. 
What's  your  name,  boy?" 

^^Ben  Starr." 

'^WeU,  Ben,  what're  you  good  for?" 

'^  'Most  anything,  sir." 

^^  'Most  anything,  eh  ?  Well,  come  along,  and  I'll  put 
you  at  'most  anything." 

He  spoke  in  a  pleasant,  jovial  tone,  which  made  me 
adore  him  on  the  spot ;  and  as  he  led  me  across  a  dark 
hall  and  up  a  sagging  flight  of  steps,  he  enquired  good- 


104  THE   ROMAKCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

humouredly  how  I  had  met  General  Bolingbroke  and 
why  he  had  given  me  his  card. 

^'He^s  a  great  man,  is  the  General!"  he  exclaimed 
with  enthusiasm.  ^^When  you  met  him,  my  boy,  you 
met  the  biggest  man  in  the  South  to-day." 

Immediately  the  crimson  face,  the  white-trousered 
legs,  the  round  stomach,  and  even  the  gouty  toe, 
were  surrounded  in  my  imagination  with  a  romantic 
halo.  ^'What's  he  done  to  make  him  so  big?"  I 
asked. 

^^Done?  Why,  he's  done  everything.  He^s  opened 
the  South,  he's  restored  trade,  he's  made  an  honest 
fortune  out  of  the  carpet-baggers.  It's  something  to 
own  nine-tenths  of  the  Old  Dominion  Tobacco  Works, 
and  to  be  vice-president  of  the  Bonfield  Trust  Company, 
but  it's  a  long  sight  better  to  be  president  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad.  If  you  happen 
to  know  of  a  bigger  job  than  that,  I  wish  you'd  point 
it  out." 

I  couldn't  point  it  out,  and  so  I  told  him,  at  which  he 
gave  a  friendly  guffaw  and  led  the  way  in  silence  up 
the  sagging  staircase.  At  that  moment  all  that  had 
been  mere  formless  ambition  in  my  mind  was  con- 
centrated into  a  single  burning  desire ;  and  I  swore  to 
myself,  as  I  follow^ed  Bob,  the  manager,  up  the  dark 
staircase  to  the  leaf  department,  that  I,  too,  would 
become  before  I  died  the  biggest  man  in  the  South  and 
the  president  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic 
Railroad.  The  idea  which  was  to  possess  me  utterly 
for  thirty  years  dropped  into  my  brain  and  took  root 
on  that  morning  in  the  heavy  atmosphere  of  the  Old 
Dominion  Tobacco  Works.     From  that  hour  I  walked 


IN   WHICH   MY   EDUCATION    BEGINS  105 

not  aimlessly,  but  toward  a  definite  end.  I  might  start  ' 
in  life,  I  told  myself,  with  a  market  basket,  but  I  would 
start  also  with  the  resolution  that  out  of  the  market 
basket  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad 
should  arise.  The  vow  was  still  on  my  lips  when  the 
large  sliding  door  on  the  landing  swung  open,  and 
we  entered  an  immense  barnlike  room,  in  which 
three  or  four  hundred  negroes  were  at  work  stemming 
tobacco. 

At  first  the  stagnant  fumes  of  the  dry  leaf  mingling 
with  the  odours  of  so  many  tightly  packed  bodies, 
caiKed  me  to  turn  suddenly  dizzy,  and  the  row^s  of 
shining  black  faces  swam  before  my  eyes  in  a  blur  with 
the  brilliantly  dyed  turbans  of  the  women.  Then  I  grit- 
ted my  teeth  fiercely,  the  mist  cleared,  and  I  listened 
undisturbed  to  the  melancholy  chant  which  accom- 
panied the  rhythmic  movements  of  the  lithe  brown 
fingers. 

At  either  end  of  the  room,  which  covered  the  entire 
length  and  breadth  of  the  building,  the  windows  were 
shut  fast,  and  on  the  outside,  close  against  the  green- 
ish panes,  innumerable  flies  swarmed  like  a  black  cur- 
tain. Before  the  long  troughs  stretching  waist  high 
from  wall  to  wall,  hundreds  of  negroes  stood  cease- 
lessly stripping  the  dry  leaves  from  the  stems;  and 
above  the  soft  golden  brown  piles  of  tobacco,  the  blur 
of  colour  separated  into  distinct  and  vivid  splashes  of 
red,  blue,  and  orange.  Back  and  forth  in  the  obscurity 
these  brilliantly  coloured  turbans  nodded  like  savage 
flowers  amid  a  crowd  of  black  faces,  in  which  the  eyes 
alone,  very  large,  wide  open,  and  with  gleaming  white 
circles  around  the  pupils,  appeared  to  me  to  be  really 


1Q6  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

alive  and  human.  They  were  singing  as  we  entered, 
and  the  sound  did  not  stop  while  the  manager  crossed 
the  floor  and  paused  for  an  instant  beside  the  nearest 
worker,  a  brawny,  coal-black  negro,  with  a  red  shirt 
open  at  his  throat,  on  which  I  saw  a  strange,  jagged 
scar,  running  fcom  ear  to  chest,  like  the  enigmatical 
symbol  of  some  savage  rite  I  could  not  understand. 
Without  turning  his  head  at  the  manager's  approach, 
he  picked  up  a  great  leaf  and  stripped  it  from  the  stem 
at  a  single  stroke,  while  his  tremendous  bass  voice 
rolled  like  the  music  of  an  organ  over  the  deep  piles  of 
tobacco  before  which  he  stood.  Above  this  rich  vol- 
ume of  sound  fluted  the  piercing  thin  sopranos  of  the 
women,  piping  higher,  higher,  until  the  ancient  hymn 
resolved  itself  into  something  that  was  neither  human 
nor  animal,  but  so  elemental,  so  primeval,  that  it  was 
like  a  voice  imprisoned  in  the  soil  —  a  dumb  and  in- 
articulate music,  rooted  deep,  and  without  conscious- 
ness, in  the  passionate  earth.  Over  the  mass  of  dark 
faces,  as  they  rocked  back  and  forth,  I  saw  light 
shadows  tremble,  as  faint  and  swift  as  the  shadows  of 
passing  clouds,  while  here  and  there  a  bright  red  or 
3^ellow  head-dress  rose  slightly  higher  than  its  neigh- 
bours, and  floated  above  the  rippling  mass  like  a  flower 
on  a  stream.  And  it  seemed  to  me  as  I  stood  there, 
half  terrified  by  the  close,  hot  smells  and  the  savage 
colours,  that  something  within  me  stirred  and  awakened 
like  a  secret  that  I  had  carried  shut  up  in  myself  since 
birth.  The  music  grew  louder  in  my  ears,  as  if  I,  too, 
were  a  part  of  it,  and  for  the  first  time  I  heard  clearly 
the  words :  — 


IN   WHICH   MY    EDUCATION   BEGINS  107 

'*  Christ  totes  de  young  lambs  in  his  bosom,  bosom, 
Christ  totes  de  young  lambs  in  his  bosom,  bosom, 
Christ  totes  de  young  lambs  in  his  bosom,  bosom, 
Fa-ther,  de  ye-ar-ur  Ju-bi-le-e  ! " 

Bob,  the  manager,  picked  up  a  leaf  from  the  nearest 
trough,  examined  it  carefully,  and  tossed  it  aside.  The 
great  black  negro  turned  his  head  slowly  toward  him, 
the  jagged  scar  standing  out  like  a  cord  above  the  open 
collar  of  his  red  shirt. 

"  Christ  leads  de  ole  sheep  by  still  watah,  watah, 
Christ  leads  de  ole  sheep  by  still  watah,  watah, 
Christ  leads  de  ole  sheep  by  still  watah,  watah, 
Fa-ther,  de  ye-ar-ur  Ju-bi-le-e  ! " 

''If  I  were  to  leave  you  here  an  hour  what  would 
you  do,  Ben?'^  asked  the  manager  suddenly,  speaking 
close  to  my  ear. 

I  thought  for  a  moment.  ''Learn  to  stem  tobacco 
quick'en  they  do,^^  I  replied  at  last. 

"What  have  you  found  out  since  you  came  in?^' 

"That  you  must  strip  the  leaf  off  clean  and  throw  it 
into  the  big  trough  that  slides  it  downstairs  somewhere." 

A  smile  crossed  his  face.  "  If  I  give  you  a  j  ob  it  won't 
be  much  more  than  running  up  and  down  stairs  with 
messages,"  he  said;  "that's  what  a  nigger  can't  do." 
He  hesitated  an  instant;  "but  that's  the  way  I  began," 
he  added  kindly,  "under  General  Bolingbroke." 

I  looked  up  quickly,  "And  was  it  the  way  he  began?" 

"Oh,  well,  hardly.  He  belongs  to  one  of  the  old 
families,  you  know.  His  father  was  a  great  planter  and 
he  started  on  top." 

My  crestfallen  look  must  have  moved  his  pity,  I 


108  THE    ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

think,  for  he  said  as  he  turned  away  and  we  walked 
down  the  long  room,  ^'It  ain't  the  start  that  makes 
the  man,  youngster,  but  the  man  that  makes  the  start.'' 
The  doors  swung  together  behind  us,  and  we  de- 
scended the  dark  staircase,  with  the  piercing  soprano 
voices  fluting  in  our  ears. 

"  Christ  leads  de  ole  sheep  by  still  watah,  watah, 
Christ  leads  de  ole  sheep  by  still  watah,  watah." 


That  afternoon  I  went  home,  full  of  hope,  to  my  attic 
in  the  Old  Market  quarter.  Then  as  the  weeks  went 
on,  and  I  took  my  place  gradually  as  a  small  laborious 
worker  in  the  buzzing  hive  of  human  industry,  what- 
ever romance  had  attached  itself  to  the  tobacco  factory, 
scattered  and  vanished  in  the  hard,  dry  atmosphere 
of  the  reality.  My  part  was  to  run  errands  up  and 
down  the  dark  staircase  for  the  manager  of  the  leaf 
department,  or  to  stand  for  hours  on  hot  days  in  the 
stagnant  air,  amid  the  reeking  smells  of  the  big  room, 
where  the  army  of  ^^stemmers"  rocked  ceaselessly 
back  and  forth  to  the  sound  of  their  savage  music.  In 
all  those  weary  w^eeks  I  had  passed  General  Boling- 
broke  but  once,  and  by  the  blank  look  on  his  great 
perspiring  face,  I  saw  that  my  hero  had  forgotten  ut- 
terly the  incident  of  my  existence.  Yet  as  I  turned 
on  the  curbing  and  looked  after  him,  while  he  ploughed, 
wiping  his  forehead,  up  the  long  hill,  under  the  leaves 
of  mulberry  and  catalpa  trees,  I  felt  instinctively  that 
my  future  triumphs  would  be  in  a  measure  the  over- 
throw of  the  things  for  which  he  and  his  generation 
had   stood.     The   manager's   casual   phrase   ^^the   old 


IN   WHICH   MY   EDUCATION   BEGINS  109 

families/'  had  bred  in  me  a  secret  resentment;  for  I 
knew  in  my  heart  that  the  genial  aristocracy,  repre- 
sented by  the  president  of  the  Great  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  Railroad,  was  in  reality  the  enemy,  and 
not  the  friend,  of  such  as  I. 

The  long,  hot  summer  unfolded  slowly  while  I  trudged 
to  the  factory  in  the  blinding  mornings  and  back  again 
to  the  Old  Market  at  the  suffocating  hour  of  sunset. 
Over  the  doors  of  the  negro  hovels  luxuriant  gourd 
vines  hung  in  festoons  of  large  fan-shaped  leaves,  and 
above  the  high  plank  fences  at  the  back,  gaudy  sun- 
flowers nodded  their  heads  to  me  as  I  went  wearily  by. 
The  richer  quarter  of  the  city  had  blossomed  into  a 
fragrant  bower,  but  I  saw  only  the  squalid  surround- 
ings of  the  Old  Market,  with  its  covered  wagons,  its 
overripe  melons,  its  prowling  dogs  hunting  in  refuse 
heaps,  and  beyond  this  the  crooked  street,  w^hich  led 
to  the  tobacco  factory  and  then  sagged  slowly  down  to 
the  river-bottom.  Sometimes  I  would  lean  from  my 
Httle  window  at  night  into  the  stifling  atmosphere, 
where  the  humming  of  a  mosquito,  or  the  whirring  of  a 
moth,  made  the  only  noise,  and  think  of  the  enchanted 
garden  lying  desolate  and  lovely  under  the  soft  shin- 
ing of  the  stars.  Were  the  ghosts  moving  up  and  down 
the  terraces  in  the  mazes  of  scented  box,  I  wondered? 
Then  the  garden  would  fade  far  away  from  me  into  a 
cool,  still  distance,  while  I  knelt  with  my  head  in  my 
hands,  panting  for  breath  in  the  motionless  air.  Out- 
side the  shadow  of  the  Old  Market  lay  over  all,  stretch- 
ing sombre  and  black  to  where  I  crouched,  a  lonely, 
half-naked  child  at  my  attic  window.  And  so  at  last, 
bathed  in  sweat,  I  would  fall  asleep,  to  awaken  at  dawn 


110  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

when  the  covered  wagons  passed  through  the  streets 
below,  and  the  cry  of  ^^Wa-ter-miHion !  Wa-ter- 
mil-Kon!"  rang  in  the  silence.  Then  the  sun  would 
rise  slowly,  the  day  begin,  and  Mrs.  Chitling's  cheerful 
bustle  would  start  smew.  Tired,  sleepless,  despairing, 
I  would  set  off  to  work  at  last,  while  the  Great  South 
Midland  Railroad  receded  farther  and  farther  into  the 
dim  province  of  inaccessible  things. 

After  a  long  August  day,  when  the  factory  had  shut 
down  while  it  was  yet  afternoon,  I  crept  up  to  Church 
Hill,  and  looked  again  over  the  spiked  wall  into  the 
enchanted  garden.  It  was  deserted  and  seemed  very 
sad,  I  thought,  for  its  only  tenants  appeared  to  be  the 
swallows  that  flew,  with  short  cries,  in  and  out  of  the 
white  columns.  On  the  front  door  a  large  sign  hung, 
reading  ^^For  Sale";  and  turning  away  mth  a  sinking 
heart,  I  went  on  to  Mrs.  Cudlip's  in  the  hope  of  catching 
a  glimpse  of  baby  Jessy,  whom  I  had  not  seen  since  I 
ran  away.  She  was  playing  on  the  sidewalk,  a  pretty, 
golden-haired  little  girl,  with  the  melting  blue  eyes  of 
my  father ;  and  when  she  caught  sight  of  me,  she  gave 
a  gurgling  cry  and  ran  straight  to  me  out  of  the  arms  of 
President,  who,  I  saw  to  my  surprise,  was  standing  in 
the  doorway  of  our  old  home.  He  was  taller  than  my 
father  now,  with  the  same  kind,  sheepish  face,  and  the 
awkward  movements  as  of  an  overgrown  boy. 

^^Wall,  if  it  ain't  Benjy!''  he  exclaimed,  his  slow 
wits  paralysed  by  my  unexpected  appearance.  ^^If  it 
ain't  Benjy!" 

Turning  aside  he  spat  a  wad  of  tobacco  into  the  gut- 
ter, and  then  coming  toward  me,  seized  both  my  hands 
and  wrung  them  in  his  big  fists  with  a  grip  that  hurt. 


IN   WHICH   MY   EDUCATION   BEGINS  111 

'^You're  comin'  along  now,  ain't  you,  Benjy?''  he 
inquired  proudly. 

^^Tith  my  Pethedent/'  lisped  baby  Jessy  at  his 
knees,  and  he  stooped  from  his  great  height  and  lifted 
her  in  his  arms  with  the  gentleness  of  a  woman. 

'^What  about  an  eddication,  Benjy  boy?''  he  asked 
over  the  golden  curls. 

^^I  can't  get  an  education  and  work,  too,"  I  answered, 
'^ and  I've  got  to  work.     How's  pa?" 

^^He's  taken  an  awful  fondness  to  the  bottle,"  replied 
President,  with  a  sly  wink,  ^^an'  if  thar's  a  thing  on 
earth  that  can  fill  a  man's  thoughts  till  it  crowds  out 
everything  else  in  it,  it's  the  bottle.  But  speakin'  of 
an  eddication,  you  see  I  never  had  one  either,  an'  I 
tell  you,  when  you  don't  have  it,  you  miss  it  every 
blessed  minute  of  yo'  Hfe.  Whenever  I  see  a  man  step 
on  ahead  of  me  in  the  race,  I  say  to  myself,  'Thar  goes 
an  eddication.  It's  the  eddication  in  him  that's 
a-movin'  an'  not  the  man.'  You  mark  my  words, 
Benjy,  I've  stood  stock  still  an'  seen  'em  stridin'  on 
that  didn't  have  one  bloomdn'  thing  inside  of  'em  ex- 
cept an  eddication." 

^^But  how  am  I  to  get  it;  President?"  I  asked 
dolefully.     ^^ I've  got  to  work.** 

'^Get  it  out  of  books,  Benjy.  It's  in  'em  if  you  only 
have  the  patience  to  stick  at  'em  till  you  get  it  out. 
I  never  had  on  o'count  of  my  eyes  and  my  slowness, 
but  you're  young  an'  peart  an'  you  don't  get  confused 
by  the  printed  letters." 

Diving  into  his  bulging  pockets,  he  took  out  a  big 
leather  purse,  from  which  he  extracted  a  dollar  and 
handed  it  to  me.     ^^Let  that  go  toward  an  eddication," 


112  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

he  said,  adding:  ^^If  you  can  get  it  out  of  books  I'll 
send  you  a  dollar  toward  it  every  week  I  live.  That's 
a  kind  of  starter,   anyway,   ain't  it?" 

I  replied  that  I  thought  it  was,  and  carefully  twisted 
the  money  into  the  torn  lining  of  my  pocket. 

'^I'm  goin'  back  to  AVest  Virginy  to-night,"  he  re- 
sumed. '^Arter  I've  seen  3^ou  an'  the  little  sister  thar 
ain't  any  use  my  hangin'  on  out  of  w^ork." 

^^Have  you  got  a  good  place.  President?" 

''As  good  as  can  be  expected  for  a  plain  man  without 
an  eddication,"  he  responded  sadly,  and  a  half  hour 
later,  when  I  said  good-by  to  him,  with  a  sob,  he  came 
to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  with  little  Jessy  clinging  to  his 
hand,  and  called  after  me  solemnly,  ''Remember, 
Benjy  boy,  what  you  want  is  an  eddication !" 

So  impressed  was  I  by  the  earnestness  of  this  advice, 
that  as  I  went  back  down  the  dreary  hill,  with  its 
musty  second-hand  clothes'  shops,  its  noisy  barrooms, 
and  its  general  aspect  of  decay  and  poverty,  I  felt 
that  my  surroundings  smothered  me  because  I  lacked 
the  peculiar  virtue  which  enabled  a  man  to  overcome 
the  adverse  circumstances  in  which  he  was  born.  The 
hot  August  day  was  drawing  to  its  end,  and  the  stag- 
nant air  in  which  I  moved  seemed  burdened  with  sweat 
until  it  had  become  a  tangible  thing.  The  gourd  vines 
were  hanging  limp  now  over  the  negro  hovels,  as  if  the 
weight  of  the  yellow  globes  dragged  them  to  the  earth ; 
and  in  the  small  square  yards  at  the  back,  the  edited 
sunflowers  seemed  trying  to  hide  their  scorched  faces 
from  the  last  gaze  of  a  too  ardent  lover.  Whole 
families  had  swarmed  out  into  the  streets,  and  from 
time  to  time  I  stepped  over  a  negro  urchin,  who  lay 


IX   WHICH   MY   EDUCATION    BEGINS  113 

flat  on  his  stomach,  drinking  the  juice  of  an  overripe 
watermelon  out  of  the  rind.  Above  the  dirt  and  squalor 
the  street  cries  still  rang  out  from  covered  wagons  which 
crawled  ceaslessly  back  and  forth  from  the  country  to 
the  Old  Market.  '^Wa-ter-mil-lion.  Wa-ter-mil-1-i-o-n  ! 
Hyer's  yo^  Wa-ter-mil-lion  fresh  f'om  de  vi-ne!'' 
And  as  I  shut  my  eyes  against  the  dirt,  and  my  nostrils 
against  the  odours,  I  saw  always  in  my  imagination  the 
enchanted  garden,  with  its  cool  sweet  magnolias  and 
laburnums,  and  its  great  white  columns  from  which  the 
swallows  flew,  with  short  cries,  toward  the  sunset. 

A  white  shopkeeper  and  a  mulatto  woman  had  got 
into  a  quarrel  on  the  pavement,  and  turning  away  to 
avoid  them,  I  stumbled  by  accident  into  the  open  door 
of  a  second-hand  shop,  where  the  proprietor  sat  on  an 
old  cooking-stove  drinking  a  glass  of  beer.  As  I  started 
back  my  frightened  glance  lit  on  a  heap  of  dusty 
volumes  in  one  comer,  and  in  reply  to  a  question,  which 
I  put  the  next  instant  in  a  trembling  voice,  I  was  in- 
formed that  I  might  have  the  whole  pile  for  fifty  cents, 
provided  I'd  clear  them  out  on  the  spot.  The  bargain 
was  no  sooner  clinched  than  I  gathered  the  books  in 
my  arms  and  staggered  under  their  weight  in  the  di- 
rection of  Mrs.  Chitling's.  Even  for  a  grown  man  they 
would  have  made  a  big  armful,  and  when  at  last  I 
toiled  up  to  my  attic,  and  dropped  on  my  knees  by  the 
open  window,  I  was  shaking  from  head  to  foot  with  ex- 
haustion. The  dust  was  thick  on  my  hands  and  arms, 
and  as  I  turned  them  over  eagerly  by  the  red  light  of  the 
sunset,  the  worm-eaten  bindings  left  queer  greenish 
stains  on  my  fingers.  Among  a  number  of  loose  maga- 
zines called    The  Farmer^s  Friend^  I  found  an    illus- 


lU  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

trated;  rather  handsome  copy  of  '^Pilgrim^s  Progress/' 
presented;  as  an  inscription  on  the  flyleaf  testified, 
to  one  Jeremiah  Wakefield  as  a  reward  for  deportment ; 
the  entire  eight  volumes  of  ^^Sir  Charles  Grandison'^  ; 
a  complete  Johnson's  Dictionary^  with  the  binding 
missing;  and  Burton's  ^^ Anatomy  of  Melancholy" 
In  faded  crimson  morocco.  When  I  had  dusted  them 
carefully  on  an  old  shirt,  and  arranged  them  on  the 
three-cornered  shelf  at  the  head  of  my  cot,  I  felt, 
with  a  glow  of  satisfaction,  that  the  foundations  of  that 
education  to  which  President  had  contributed  were 
already  laid  in  my  brain.  If  the  secret  of  the  future 
had  been  imprisoned  in  those  mouldy  books,  I  could 
hardly  have  attacked  them  with  greater  earnestness; 
and  there  was  probably  no  accident  in  my  Ufe  which 
directed  so  powerfully  my  fortunes  as  the  one  that  sent 
me  stumbling  into  that  second-hand  shop  on  that 
afternoon  in  mid-August.  I  can  imagine  what  I  should 
have  been  if  I  had  never  had  the  help  of  a  friend  in  my 
career,  but  when  I  try  to  think  of  myself  as  unaided  by 
Johnson's  Dictionary,  or  by  ^^Sir  Charles  Grandison," 
whose  prosiest  speeches  I  committed  joyfully  to 
memory,  my  fancy  stumbles  in  vain  in  the  attempt. 
For  five  drudging  years  those  books  were  my  constant 
companions,  my  one  resource,  and  to  conceive  of  myself 
without  them  is  to  conceive  of  another  and  an  entirely 
different  man.  If  there  was  harm  in  any  of  them,' 
which  I  doubt,  it  was  clothed  to  appeal  to  an  older  and 
a  less  ignorant  imagination  than  mine ;  and  from  the 
elaborate  treatises  on  love  melancholy  in  Burton's 
^^  Anatomy,"  I  extracted  merely  the  fine  aromatic 
flavour  of  his  quotations. 


CHAPTER  IX 

I    LEARN    A    LITTLE   LATIN    AND  A  GREAT    DEAL  OF   LIFE 

My  opportunity  came  at  last  when  Bob  Brackett^  the 
manager  of  the  leaf  department,  discovered  me  one 
afternoon  tucked  away  wdth  the  half  of  Johnson's 
Dictionary  in  a  corner  of  the  stemming  room^  where 
the  negroes  were  singing  ^^ Swing  Low,  Sweet  Chariot.'' 

''I  say,  Ben,  why  ain't  you  out  on  the  floor?"  he 
asked. 

I  laid  the  book  face  downwards  on  the  window-sill, 
and  came  out,  embarrassed  and  secretive,  to  where  he 
stood.  '^I  just  dropped  down  there  a  minute  ago  to 
rest,"  I  replied. 

^'You  weren't  resting,  you  were  reading.  Show  me 
the  book." 

Without  a  word  I  handed  him  the  great  dictionary, 
and  he  fingered  the  dog-eared  pages  with  a  critical  and 
reflective  air. 

^^Holy  Moses  !  it  ain't  a  blessed  thing  except  words  !" 
he  exclaimed,  after  a  minute.     ^^E)o  you  mean  to  tell 
me  you  can  sit  down  and  read  a  dictionary  for  the 
pure  pleasure  of  reading?" 
^    '^I  wasn't  reading,  I  was  learning,"  I  answered. 

^^ Learning  how?" 

^^ Learning  by  heart.  I've  already  got  as  far  as  the 
tf's." 

115 


116  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^  You  mean  you  can  say  every  last  word  of  them  a^s, 
h's,  and  c's  straight  off?" 

I  nodded  gravely^  my  hands  behind  my  back,  my 
eyes  on  the  beams  in  the  ceiling.      '^A.s  far  as  the  d's." 

''And  you're  doing  all  this  learning  just  to  get  an 
education,  ain't  you?" 

My  eyes  dropped  from  the  beams  and  I  shook  my  head. 
'^I  don't  beheve  it's  there,  sir." 

^'What?     Where?" 

''  I  don't  believe  an  education  is  in  them.     I  did  once." 

For  a  moment  he  stood  turning  over  the  discoloured 
leaves  without  replying.  '^ I  reckon  you  can  tell  me  the 
meaning  of  'most  any  word,  eh,  Ben?"  he  dem.andedc 

''Not  unless  it  begins  with  a,  b,  or  c,  sir." 

"Well,  any  word  beginning  with  an  a,  then,  that's 
something.  There're  a  precious  lot  of  'em.  How 
about  allelujah,  how's  that  for  a  mouthful?" 

Instinctively  my  eyes  closed,  and  I  began  my  reply 
in  a  tone  that  seemed  to  chime  in  with  the  negro's 
melody. 

"'Falsely  written  for  Hallelujah,  a  v/ord  of  spiritual 
exultation,  used  in  hymns;  signifies,  Praise  God.  He 
vrlll  set  his  tongue,  to  those  pious  divine  strains;  which 
may  he  a  proper  proeludium  to  those  allelujahs,  he  hopes 
eternally  to  sing. 

"^  Government  of  the  Tongue.^  ^' 

"Hooray!  That's  a  whopper!"  he  exclaimed,  with 
enthusiasm.     "What's  a  prse-lu-di-um ? " 

"I  told  you  I  hadn't  got  to  p's  yet,"  I  returned,  not 
without  resentment. 

The  hymn  changed  suddenly;  the  negro  in  the  red 
shirt,  T^dth  the  scar  on  his  neck,  turned  his  great  oxhke 


I    LEARN    A   LITTLE    LATIN  117 

eyes  upon  me,  and  the  next  instant  his  superb  voice 
rolled,  rich  and  deep,  as  the  sound  of  an  organ,  from 
his  bared  black  chest. 

''  A-settin'  in  de  kingdom, 
Y-e-s,  m-y-L-a-w-d ! " 

^^  Well,  youVe  got  gumption,''  said  Bob,  the  manager. 
'^That's  what  I  always  lacked  —  just  plain  gumption, 
and  when  you  ain't  got  it,  there's  nothing  to  take  its 
place.  I  was  talking  to  General  Bolingbroke  about  you 
yesterday,  Ben,  and  that's  what  I  said.  ^There's  but 
one  word  for  that  boy.  General,  and  it's  gumption.'" 

I  accepted  the  tribute  with  a  swelling  heart.  ''What 
good  will  it  do  me  if  I  can't  get  an  education?"  I 
demanded. 

''It's  that  will  give  it  to  you,  Ben.  Why,  don't  you 
know  every  blessed  word  in  the  English  language  that 
begins  with  an  a  ?  That's  more  than  I  know  —  that's 
more,  I  reckon,"  he  burst  out,  "than  the  General  him- 
self knows !" 

In  this  there  was  comfort,  if  a  feeble  one.  "But 
there're  so  many  other  things  besides  the  a's  that  you've 
got  to  learn/'  I  responded. 

"Yes,  but  if  you  learn  the  a's,  you'll  learn  the  other 
things,  —  now  ain't  that  logic  ?  The  trouble  with  me, 
you  see,  is  that  I  learned  the  other  things  without 
knomng  a  blamed  sight  of  an  a.  I  tell  you  what  I'll 
do,  Ben,  my  boy,  I'll  speak  to  the  General  about  it  the 
very  next  time  he  comes  to  the  factory." 

He  gave  me  back  the  dictionary,  and  I  applied  myself 
to  its  pages  with  a  terrible  earnestness  while  I  awaited 
the  great  man's  attention. 


118  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN  MAN 

It  was  a  week  before  it  came,  for  the  General,  having 
gone  North  on  affairs  of  the  railroad,  did  not  condescend 
to  concern  himself  with  my  destiny  until  the  more 
important  business  was  arranged  and  despatched. 
Being  in  a  bland  mood,  however,  upon  his  return,  it 
appeared  that  he  had  listened  and  expressed  himself 
to  some  purpose  at  last. 

^^Tell  him  to  go  to  Theophilus  Pry  and  let  m^e  have 
his  report,"  w^as  what  he  had  said. 

^^But  who  is  Theophilus  Pry?"  I  enquired,  when  this 
was  repeated  to  me  by  Bob  Brackett. 

^^Dr.  Theophilus  Pry,  an  old  friend  of  the  General's, 
who  takes  his  nephew  to  coach  in  the  evenings.  The 
doctor's  very  poor,  I  beheve,  because  they  say  of  him 
that  he  never  refuses  a  patient  and  never  sends  a  bill. 
He  swears  there  isn't  enough  knowledge  in  his  profes- 
sion to  make  it  worth  anybody's  money." 

^^And  where  does  he  live?" 

^^In  that  little  old  house  with  the  office  in  the  yard  on 
Franklin  Street.  The  General  says  you're  to  go  to  him 
this  evening  at  eight  o'clock." 

The  sound  of  my  beating  heart  was  so  loud  in  my 
ears  that  I  hurriedly  buttoned  my  jacket  across  it. 
Then  as  if  I  were  to  be  examined  on  Johnson's  Diction- 
ary, my  lips  began  to  move  silently  while  I  spelled  over 
the  biggest  words.  If  I  could  only  confine  my  future 
conversations  to  the  use  of  the  a's  and  5's,  I  felt  that  I 
might  safely  pass  through  life  without  desperate  dis- 
aster in  the  matter  of  speech. 

It  was  a  mild  October  evening,  with  a  smoky  blue 
haze,  through  which  a  single  star  shone  over  the  clipped 
box  in  Dr.  Theophilus  Pry's  garden,  when  I  opened  the 


1   LEARX    A   LITTLE   LATIIT  119 

iron  gate  and  went  softly  along  the  pebbled  walk  to  the 
square  little  office  standing  detached  from  the  house. 
A  black  servant;  csLTiying  a  plate  of  waffles  from  the 
outside  kitchen^  informed  me  in  a  querulous  voice  that 
the  doctor  was  still  at  supper,  but  I  might  go  in  and 
wait ;  and  accepting  the  suggestion  with  more  amiabihty 
than  accompanied  it,  I  entered  the  small,  cheerful  room, 
where  a  lamp,  ^ith  a  lowered  vrick,  burned  under  a  green 
shade.  Around  the  walls  there  were  many  ancient 
volumes  in  bindings  of  stout  English  calf,  and  on  the 
mantelpiece,  above  which  hung  one  of  the  original 
engravings  of  Latane's  ^^ Burial,''  two  enormous  glass 
jars,  marked ''Calomel  "  and  ''Quinine,''  presided  over 
the  apartment  with  an  air  of  medicinal  solemnity. 
They  were  the  only  visible  and  positive  evidence  of  the 
doctor's  calling  in  life,  and  when  I  knew  him  better  in 
after  years,  I  discovered  that  they  were  the  only  drugs 
he  admitted  to  a  place  in  the  profession  of  healing. 
To  the  day  of  his  death,  he  administered  these  alterna- 
tives with  a  high  finality  and  an  imposing  presence. 
It  was  told  of  him  that  he  considered  but  one  symptom, 
and  this  he  discovered  with  his  hand  on  the  patient's 
pulse  and  his  eyes  on  a  big  loud-ticking  watch  in  a 
hunting  case.  If  the  pulse  was  quick,  he  prescribed 
quinine,  if  sluggish,  he  ordered  calomel.  To  dally  with 
minor  ailments  was  as  much  beneath  him  as  to  tempo- 
rise with  modern  medicine.  In  his  last  years  he  was 
still  suspicious  of  vaccination,  and  entertained  a  pro- 
found contempt  for  the  knife.  Beyond  his  faith  in  calo- 
mel and  quinine,  there  were  but  two  articles  in  his 
creed ;  he  believed  first  in  cleanliness,  secondly  in  God. 
''Madam,"  he  is  reported  to  have  remarked  irreverently 


120  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

to  a  mother  whom  he  found  praying  for  her  child'i 
recovery  in  the  midst  of  a  dirty  house,  ^^when  God 
doesn't  respond  to  prayer,  He  som.etimes  answers  a 
broom  and  a  bucket  of  soapsuds/'  Honest,  affable, 
adored,  he  presented  the  singular  spectacle  of  a 
physician  who  scorned  medicine,  and  3^et  who,  it  was 
said,  had  fewer  deaths  and  more  recoveries  to  his  credit 
than  any  other  practitioner  of  his  generation.  This 
behef  arose  probabl}^  in  the  legendary  glamour  which 
resulted  from  his  boundless,  though  mysterious,  charities ; 
for  despite  the  fact  that  he  had  until  his  death  a  large 
and  devoted  following,  he  lived  all  his  life  in  a  condi- 
tion of  genteel  poverty.  His  single  weakness  was,  I 
believe,  an  utter  inability  to  appreciate  the  exchange 
value  of  dollars  and  cents;  and  this  failing  grew  upon 
him  so  rapidly  in  his  declining  years  that  Mrs.  Clay,  his 
widowed  sister,  who  kept  his  house,  was  at  last  obliged 
to  ^^put  up  pickles"  for  the  market  in  order  to  keep  a 
roof  over  her  brother's  distinguished  head. 

I  was  sitting  in  one  of  the  worn  leather  chairs  under 
the  green  lamp,  when  the  door  opened  and  shut  quickly, 
and  Dr.  Theophilus  Pry  came  in  and  held  out  his  hand. 

^'So  you're  the  lad  George  was  telling  me  about," 
he  began  at  once,  with  a  charming,  straightforward 
courtesy.  "I  hope  I  haven't  kept  you  waiting 
many  minutes,  sir." 

He  was  spare  and  tall,  with  stooping  shoulders,  a 
hooked  nose,  bearing  a  few  red  veins,  and  a  smile  that 
lit  up  his  face  like  the  flash  of  a  lantern.  Everything 
about  his  clothes  that  could  be  coloured  was  of  a  bright, 
strong  red,  his  cravat,  his  big  silk  handkerchief,  and 
the  polka  dots  in  his  black  stockings.    ^^  Yes,  I  like  any 


I   LEARX   A   LITTLE   LATIN  121 

CDlour  as  long  as  it's  red/'  he  was  fond  of  saying  with 
his  genial  chuckle. 

Bending  over  the  green  baize  cloth  on  the  table,  he 
pushed  away  a  pile  of  examination  papers,  and  raised 
the  wick  of  the  lamp. 

''So  you've  started  out  to  learn  Dr.  Johnson's  Dic- 
tionary by  heart/'  he  observed.  ''Now  by  a  fair  calcu- 
lation how  long  do  you  suppose  it  will  take  you?" 

I  replied  -^ith  diffidence  that  it  appeared  to  me  now  as 
if  it  would  very  Hkely  take  me  till  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment. 

"Well,  'tis  as  good  an  occupation  as  most,  and  a  long 
ways  better  than  some,'^  commented  the  doctor. 
"You've  come  to  me,  haven't  you,  because  you  think 
you'd  Hke  to  learn  a  little  Latin  ?  " 

"I'd  hke  to  learn  anvthing,  sir,  that  will  help  me  to  get 
on." 

"What's  the  business?" 

"Tobacco." 

"I  don't  know  that  Latin  will  help  you  much  there, 
unless  it  aids  you  to  name  a  blend." 

"It  —  it  isn't  only  that,  sir,  I  —  I  want  an  education 
—  not  just  a  common  one." 

A  smile  broke  suddenl}^  like  a  beam  of  hght  on  his 
face,  and  I  understood  all  at  once  why  his  calomel  and 
his  quinine  so  often  cured.  At  that  moment  I  should 
have  swallowed  tar  water  on  faith  if  he  had  prescribed 
it. 

"I  don't  know  much  about  you,  my  lad,"  he  remarked 
with  a  grave,  old-fashioned  courtesy,  which  lifted  me 
several  feet  above  the  spot  of  carpet  on  which  I  stood, 
"but  a  gentleman  who  starts  out  to  learn  old  Samuel 


122  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN    MAX 

Johnson^s  Dictionary  by  heart,  is  a  gentleman  I'll 
give  my  hand  to." 

With  my  pulses  throbbing  hard,  I  watched  him  take 
down  a  dog-eared  Latin  Grammar,  and  begin  turning  the 
pages ;  and  when,  after  a  minute,  he  put  a  few  simple 
questions  to  me,  I  answered  as  well  as  I  could  for  the 
lump  in  my  throat.  ^'It^s  the  fashion  now  to  neglect 
the  classics,'^  he  said  sadly,  ^'and  a  man  had  the  im- 
pertinence to  tell  me  yesterday  that  the  only  use  for  a 
dead  language  was  to  write  prescriptions  for  sick  people 
in  it.  But  I  maintain,  and  I  will  repeat  it,  that  you 
never  find  a  gentleman  of  cultured  and  elevated  tastes 
who  has  not  at  least  a  bowing  acquaintance  with  the 
Latin  language.     The  common  man  may  deride  —  " 

I  looked  up  quickly.  '^If  you  please,  sir,  I'd  like  to 
learn  it,"  I  broke  in  with  determination. 

He  glanced  at  me  kindly,  secretly  flattered,  I  suspect, 
by  my  spontaneous  tribute  to  his  eloquence,  and  the 
leaves  of  the  Latin  Grammar  had  fluttered  open,  when 
the  door  swung  wide  with  a  cheerful  bang,  and  a  boy 
of  about  my  own  age,  though  considerably  under  my 
height  and  size,  entered  the  room. 

'''I  didn't  get  in  from  the  ball  game  till  an  hour  ago, 
doctor,"  he  exclaimed.  ^X^ncle  George  says  please 
don't  slam  me  if  I  am  late." 

Some  surface  resemblance  to  my  hero  of  the  railroad 
made  me  aware,  even  before  Dr.  Pry  introduced 
us,  that  the  newcomer  was  the  ''young  George"  of 
whom  I  had  heard.  He  was  a  fresh,  high-coloured  boy, 
whose  features  showed  even  now  a  slight  forecast  of 
General  Bolingbroke's  awful  redness.  Before  I  looked 
at  him  I  got  a  vague  impression  that  he  was  hand- 


I   LEARN   A   LITTLE   LATIN  123 

some;  after  I  looked  at  him  I  began  to  wonder  curi- 
ously why  he  was  not  ?  His  hair  was  of  a  bright  chest- 
nut colour,  very  curly,  and  clipped  unusually  close,  in 
order  to  hide  the  natural  wave  of  which,  I  discovered 
later,  he  was  ashamed.  He  had  pleasant  brown  eyes, 
and  a  merry  smile,  which  lent  a  singular  charm  to  his 
face  when  it  hovered  about  his  mouth. 

'^I  say,  doctor,  I  wish  you'd  let  me  off  to-night. 
I'll  do  double  to-morrow,"  he  begged,  and  then  turned 
to  me  with  his  pleasant,  intimate  manner:  ^'Don't 
you  hate  Latin?  I  do.  Before  Dr.  Theophilus  be- 
gan coaching  me  I  went  to  a  woman,  and  that  was 
worse  —  she  made  it  so  silly.  I  hate  women,  don't 
you?" 

'^ Young  George,"  observed  Dr.  Theophilus,  with 
sternness,  ''for  every  disrespectful  allusion  to  the 
ladies,  I  shall  give  you  an  extra  page  of  grammar." 

^'I'm  no  worse  than  uncle,  doctor.     Uncle  says — " 

''I  forbid  you  to  repeat  any  flippant  remarks  of 
General  Bolingbroke's,  George,  and  you  may  tell  him 
so,  with  my  compliments,  at  breakfast." 

Opening  his  book,  he  glanced  at  me  gravely  over  its 
pages,  and  the  next  instant  my  education  in  the  ancient 
languages  and  the  finer  graces  of  society  commenced. 

On  that  first  evening  I  won  a  place  in  the  doctor's 
affections,  which,  I  like  to  think,  I  never  really  lost  in 
the  many  changes  the  future  brought  me.  My  obse- 
quious respect  for  dead  tongues  redeemed,  to  a  great 
measure,  the  appalling  ignorance  I  immediately  dis- 
played of  the  merest  rudiments  of  geography  and 
history;  and  when  the  time  came,  I  believe  it  even 
reconciled  him   to  my  bodily  stature,   which  always 


124  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

appeared  to  him  to  be  too  large  to  conform  to  the 
smaller  requirements  of  society.  In  my  fourteenth 
year  I  began  to  grow  rapidly,  and  his  chief  complaint 
of  me  after  this  was  that  I  never  learned  to  manage 
my  hands  and  feet  as  if  they  really  belonged  to  me  — 
a  failing  that  I  am  perfectly  aware  I  was  never  able 
entirely  to  overcome.  It  would  doubtless  take  the 
breeding  of  all  the  Bolingbrokes,  he  once  informed  me, 
with  a  sigh,  to  enable  a  man  to  carry  a  stature  such  as 
mine  with  the  careless  dignity  which  might  possibly 
have  been  attained  by  a  moderate  birth  and  a  smaller 
body. 

'^  Nature  has  intended  you  for  a  prize-fighter,  but 
God  has  made  of  you  a  gentleman, '^  he  added,  with  his 
fine,  characteristic  philosophy,  which  escaped  me  at 
the  moment;  ^^it  is  a  blessing,  I  suppose,  to  be  en- 
dowed with  a  healthy  body,  but  if  I  were  you,  I  should 
endeavour  to  keep  my  members  constantly  in  my  mind. 
It  is  the  next  best  thing  to  behaving  as  if  they  did  not 
exist/' 

This  was  said  so  regretfully  that  I  hadn't  the  heart 
to  inform  him  that  my  mind,  being  of  limited  dimen- 
sions, found  difficulty  in  accommodating  at  one  and 
the  same  time  my  bodily  members  and  the  Latin  lan- 
guage. Even  my  ^^  Csesar ' '  caused  me  less  misery  at  this 
period  than  did  the  problem  of  the  proper  disposal  of 
my  hands  and  feet.  Do  what  I  would  they  were  hope- 
lessly (by  some  singular  freak  of  nature)  in  my  way. 
The  breeding  of  all  the  Bolingbrokes  would  have  been 
taxed  to  its  utmost,  I  believe,  to  behave  for  a  single 
instant  as  if  they  did  not  exist. 

Except   for   the   embarrassment   of   my   increasing 


I   LEARN   A   LITTLE   LATIN  125 

stature,  the  years  that  followed  my  introduction  to  Dr. 
Theophilus,  as  he  was  called,  stand  out  in  my  memory 
as  ones  of  almost  unruffled  happiness.  The  two  great 
jars  of  calomel  and  quinine  on  the  mantelpiece  became 
like  faces  of  familiar,  beneficent  friends;  and  the 
dusty  bookcases,  wdth  their  shining  rows  of  old  English 
bindings,  formed  an  appropriate  background  for  the 
flight  of  my  wildest  dreams.  To  this  day  those  ado- 
lescent fancies  have  never  detached  themselves  from 
the  little  office,  the  scattered  bricks  of  which  are  now 
lying  in  the  ruined  garden  between  the  blighted  yew 
tree  and  the  uprooted  box.  I  can  see  them  still  cir- 
cling like  vague  faces  around  the  green  lamp,  under 
which  Dr.  Theophilus  sits,  with  his  brown  and  white 
pointer,  Robin,  asleep  at  his  feet.  Sometimes  there 
was  a  saucer  of  fresh  raspberry  jam  brought  in  by  Mrs. 
Clay,  the  widowed  sister ;  sometimes  a  basket  of  wine- 
sap  apples ;  and  once  a  year,  on  the  night  before  Christ- 
mas, a  large  slice  of  fruit  cake  and  a  very  small  tumbler 
of  eggnog.  Always  there  were  the  cheery  smile,  the 
pleasant  talk,  racy  with  anecdotes,  and  the  wagging 
tail  of  Robin,  the  pointer. 

^^A  good  dog,  Ben,  this  little  mongrel  of  yours, ^' 
the  doctor  would  say,  as  he  stooped  to  pat  Samuel's 
head;  '^but  then,  all  dogs  are  good  dogs.  You  re- 
member your  Plutarch?  Now,  here's  this  Robin  of 
mine.  I  wouldnH  take  five  hundred  dollars  in  my 
hand  for  him  to-night."  At  this  Robin,  the  pointer, 
would  lift  his  big  brown  eyes,  and  slip  his  soft  nose  into 
his  master's  hand.  ^^I  wouldn't  take  five  hundred 
dollars  down  for  him,"  Dr.  Theophilus  would  repeat 
with  emphasis. 


126  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

On  the  nights  when  our  teacher  was  called  out  to  a 
patient;  as  he  often  was^  George  Bolingbroke  and  I 
would  push  back  the  chairs  for  a  game  of  checkers^  or 
step  outside  into  the  garden  for  a  wrestling  match,  in 
which  I  was  always  the  victor.  The  physical  propor- 
tions which  the  doctor  lamented,  were,  I  believe,  the 
strongest  hold  I  had  upon  the  admiration  of  young 
George.  Latin  he  treated  with  the  same  half-playful, 
half-contemptuous  courtesy  that  I  had  observed  in 
General  Bolingbroke^s  manner  to  ^Hhe  ladies,"  and 
even  the  doctor  he  regarded  as  a  mixture  of  a  scholar 
and  a  mollycoddle.  It  was  perfectly  characteristic  that 
one  thing,  and  one  thing  only,  should  command  his 
unqualified  respect,  and  this  was  the  possession  of  the 
potential  power  to  knock  him  down. 


CHAPTER   X 

IN    WHICH    I    GROW   UP 

In  my  eighteenth  year,  when  I  had  achieved  a  posi- 
tion and  a  salary  in  the  tobacco  factory,  I  left  the  Old 
Market  forever,  and  moved  into  a  room,  which  Mrs. 
Clay  had  offered  to  rent  to  me,  in  the  house  of  Dr. 
Theophilus.  During  the  next  twelve  months  my  in- 
timacy with  young  George,  who  was  about  to  enter 
the  University,  led  to  an  acquaintance,  though  a  slight 
one,  with  that  great  man,  the  General.  As  the  years 
passed  my  dream  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and 
Atlantic  Railroad,  instead  of  evaporating,  had  become 
fixed  in  my  mind  as  the  fruition  of  all  my  toil,  the  end 
of  all  my  ambition.  I  saw  in  it  still,  as  I  had  seen  in  it 
that  afternoon  against  the  rosy  sunset  and  the  anchored 
vessel,  the  one  glorious  possibility,  the  great  adventure. 
The  General's  plethoric  figure,  with  his  big  paunch  and 
his  gouty  toe,  had  never  lost  in  my  eyes  the  legendary 
light  in  which  I  had  enveloped  it;  and  when  George 
suggested  to  me  carelessly  one  spring  afternoon  that  I 
should  stop  by  his  house  and  have  a  look  at  his  uncle's 
classical  library,  I  felt  my  cheeks  burn,  while  my  heart 
beat  an  excited  tattoo  against  my  ribs.  The  house  I 
knew  by  sight,  a  grave,  low-browed  mansion,  vdih  a 
fringe  of  purple  Tvistaria  draping  the  long  porch;  and 
it  was  under  a  pendulous  shower  of  blossoms  that  we 

127 


128  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

found  the  General  seated  with  the  evening  newspaper 
in  his  hand  and  his  bandaged  foot  on  a  wicker  stool. 
As  we  entered  the  gate  he  was  making  a  face  over  a 
glass  of  water,  while  he  complained  fretfully  to  Dr. 
TheophiluS;  who  sat  in  a  rocking-chair,  with  Robin,  the 
pointer,  stretched  on  a  rug  at  his  feet. 

''I'll  never  get  used  to  the  taste  of  water,  if  I  live  to 
be  a  hundred, ''  the  great  man  was  saying  peevishly. 
''To  save  my  soul  I  can't  understand  why  the  Lord 
made   anything  so   darn  flat!'' 

A  single  lock  of  hair,  growing  just  above  the  bald  spot 
on  his  head,  stirred  in  the  soft  wind  like  a  tuft  of 
bleached  grass,  while  his  lower,  slightly  protruding  lip 
pursed  itself  into  an  angry  and  childish  expression. 
He  was  paying  the  inevitable  price,  I  gathered,  for 
his  career  as  "a  gay  old  bird" ;  but  even  in  the  rebuk- 
ing glance  which  Dr.  Theophilus  now  bent  upon  him, 
I  read  the  recognition  that  the  president  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad  must  be  dosed 
more  sparingly  than  other  men.  Under  his  loose,  puffy 
chin  he  wore  a  loose,  puffy  tie  of  a  magenta  shade, 
in  the  midst  of  which  a  single  black  pearl  reposed; 
and  when  he  turned  his  head,  the  creases  in  his  neck 
looked  like  white  cords  sunk  deep  in  the  scarlet  flesh. 

"There's  no  use,  Theophilus,  I  can't  stand  it,"  he 
protested.  "Delilah,  bring  me  a  sip  of  whiskey  to  put 
a  taste  in  my  mouth." 

"No  whiskey,  Delilah,  not  a  drop,"  commanded 
the  doctor  sternly.  "It's  the  result  of  your  own  im- 
prudence, George,  and  you've  got  to  pay  for  it.  You've 
been  eating  strawberries,  and  I  told  you  not  to  touch 
one  with  a  ten-foot  pole." 


IN   WHICH    I   GROW   UP  129 

'^You  didn't  say  a  word  about  strawberry  shorts 
cake/'  rejoined  the  General,  like  a  guilty  child,  ^^and 
this  attack  is  due  to  an  entirely  different  cause.  I 
dined  at  the  Blands'  on  Sunday,  and  Miss  Mitty  gave 
me  mint  sauce  on  my  lamb.  I  never  could  abide  mint 
sauce." 

Taking  out  his  prescription  book  the  doctor  wrote 
down  a  prescription  in  a  single  word,  which  looked 
ominousl}^  like  ^^ calomel"  from  a  distance. 

^^How  did  Miss  Matoaca  seem?"  he  asked,  while 
Robin,  the  old  pointer,  came  and  sniffed  at  my  ankles, 
and  I  thought  of  Samuel,  sleeping  under  a  flower 
bed  in  the  doctor's  garden.  ^^She  ha-s  a  touch  of 
malaria,  and  I  ordered  her  three  grains  of  quinine 
every  morning." 

A  purple  flush  mounted  to  the  General's  face,  which, 
if  I  could  have  read  it  by  the  light  of  history,  would 
have  explained  the  scornful  flattery  in  his  attitude 
toward  ^^the  sex."  It  was  easy  to  catch  the  personal 
note  in  his  piquant  allusions  to  ^Hhe  ladies,"  though 
an  instinct,  which  he  would  probably  have  called  a 
principle,  kept  them  always  within  the  bounds  of 
politeness.  Later  I  was  to  learn  that  Miss  Matoaca 
had  been  the  most  ardent,  if  by  no  means  the  only, 
romance  of  his  youth ;  and  that  because  of  some  head- 
strong and  indelicate  opinions  of  hers  on  the  subject  of 
masculine  morals,  she  had,  when  confronted  with 
tangible  proofs  of  the  General's  airy  wanderings,  hope- 
lessly severed  the  engagement  within  a  few  weeks  of 
the  marriage.  To  a  gay  young  bird  the  prospect  of  a 
storm  in  a  nest  had  been  far  from  attractive  ;  and  after 
a  fierce  quarrel,  he  had  started  dizzily  down  the  descent 


130  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

of  his  bachelorhood;  while  she  had  folded  her  trembling 
wings  and  retired  into  the  shadow.  That  Miss  Matoaca 
possessed  ^^ headstrong  opinions/'  even  the  doctor, 
with  all  his  gallantry,  would  have  been  the  last  to  deny. 
'^She  seems  to  think  men  are  made  just  like  women/' 
he  remarked  now,  wonderingly,  '^but,  oh,  Lord,  they 
ain't ! " 

'^1  tell  you  it's  those  outlandish  heathen  notions  of 
hers  that  are  driving  us  all  crazy!"  exclaimed  the 
General,  making  a  face  as  he  had  done  over  his  glass 
of  water.  ^' Talks  about  taxes  without  representation 
exactly  as  if  she  were  a  man  and  had  rights !  What 
rights  does  a  woman  want,  anyway,  I'd  like  to  know, 
except  the  right  to  a  husband  ?  They  all  ought  to  have 
husbands  —  God  knows  I'm  not  denying  them  that ! 
—  the  state  ought  to  see  to  it.  But  rights  !  Pshaw  ! 
They'll  get  so  presently  they  won't  know  how  to  bear 
their  wrongs  with  dignity.  And  I  tell  you,  doctor, 
if  there's  a  more  edifying  sight  than  a  woman  bearing 
her  wrongs  beautifully,  I've  never  seen  it.  Why,  I 
remember  my  Cousin  Jenny  Tyler  —  you  know  she 
married  that  scamp  who  used  to  drink  and  throw  his 
boots  at  her.  'What  do  you  do,  Jenny?'  I  asked,  in 
a  boiling  rage,  when  she  told  me,  and  I  never  saw  a 
woman  look  more  like  an  angel  than  she  did  when  she 
answered,  'I  pick  them  up.'  Why,  she  made  me  cry, 
sir ;  that's  the  sort  of  woman  that  makes  a  man  want 
to  marry." 

'^I  dare  say  you're  right,"  sighed  the  doctor,  ''but 
Miss  Matoaca  is  made  of  a  different  stuff.  I  can't 
imagine  her  picking  up  any  man's  boots,  George." 

"No  more  can  I,"  retorted  the  General,  ''it  serves  her 


IN   WHICH   I    GROW    UP  131 

right  that  she  never  got  a  husband.  Xo  gentleman 
wants  to  throw  his  boots  at  his  wife^  but;  by  Jove^  he 
likes  to  feel  that  if  he  were  ever  to  do  such  a  thing,  she'd 
be  the  kind  that  would  pick  them  up.  He  doesn't 
want  to  think  everlastingly  that  he's  got  to  walk  a 
chalk-line  or  catch  a  flea  in  his  ear.  Now,  what  do  you 
suppose  Miss  Matoaca  said  to  me  on  Sunday?  We 
were  talking  of  Tom  Frost's  running  for  governor,  and 
she  said  she  hoped  he  wouldn't  be  elected  because  he 
led  an  impure  life.  An  impure  life  !  Will  you  tell  me 
what  business  it  is  of  an  unmarried  lady's  whether  a 
man  leads  an  impure  life  or  not?  It  isn't  ladylike 
—  I'll  be  damned  if  it  is !  I  could  see  that  Miss  Mitty 
blushed  for  her.  What's  the  world  coming  to,  I  ask, 
when  a  maiden  lady  isn't  ashamed  to  know  that  a 
man  leads  an  impure  life?" 

He  raged  softly,  and  I  could  see  that  Dr.  Theophilus 
was  growing  sterner  over  his  flippancy. 

^^Well,  you're  a  gay  old  bird,  George,"  he  remarked, 
'^and  I  dare  say  you  think  me  something  of  a  prude." 

Tearing  off  a  leaf  from  his  prescription  book,  he  laid 
it  on  the  table,  and  held  out  his  hand.  Then  he  stood 
for  a  minute  with  his  eyes  on  Robin,  who  was  marching 
stiffly  round  a  bed  of  red  geraniums  near  the  gate. 
''It's  time  to  go,"  he  added;  ''that  old  dog  of  mine  is 
getting  ready  to  root  up  your  geraniums." 

"You'd  better  keep  a  cat,"  observed  the  General, 
"they  do  less  damage." 

Young  George  and  I,  who  had  stood  in  the  shadow  of 
the  wistaria  awaiting  the  doctor's  departure,  came 
forward  now,  and  I  made  my  awkward  bow  to  the 
General's  bandaged  foot. 


132  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''Any  relative  of  Jack  Starr?''  he  enquired  affably 
as  he  shook  my  hand. 

I  towered  so  conspicuously  above  him,  while  I  stood 
there  with  my  hat  in  my  hand,  that  I  was  for  a  mo- 
ment embarrassed  by  my  mere  physical  advantages. 

'^No,  sir,  not  that  I  ever  heard  of,''  I  answered. 

''Then  you  ought  to  be  thankful,"  he  returned 
peevishly,  ^^for  the  first  time  I  ever  met  the  fellow  he 
deliberately  trod  on  my  toe  —  deliberately,  sir.  And 
now  they're  wanting  to  nominate  him  for  governor  — 
but  I  say  they  shan't  do  it.  I've  no  idea  of  allowing  it. 
It's  utterly  out  of  the  question." 

^' Uncle  George,  I've  brought  Ben  to  see  your  li- 
brary," interrupted  young  George  at  my  elbow. 

''Library,  eh?  Are  you  going  to  be  a  lawyer?" 
demanded  the  General. 

I  shook  my  head. 

"A  preacher?"  in  a  more  reverent  voice. 

"No,  sir,  I'm  in  the  Old  Dominion  Tobacco  Works. 
You  got  me  my  first  job." 

"I  got  you  your  job  —  did  I?  Then  you're  the 
young  chap  that  discovered  that  blend  for  smoking. 
I  told  Bob  you  ought  to  have  a  royalty  on  that.  Did 
he  give  it  to  you?" 

"I'm  to  have  ten  per  cent  of  the  sales,  sir.  They've 
Just  begun." 

"Well,  hold  on  to  it  —  it's  a  good  blend.  I  tried  it. 
And  when  you  get  your  ten  per  cent,  put  it  into  the  Old 
South  Chemical  Company,  if  you  want  to  grow  rich. 
It  isn't  everybody  I'd  give  that  tip  to,  but  I  like  the 
looks  of  you.     How  tall  are  you?  " 

"Six  feet  one  in  my  stockings." 


IN   WHICH   I   GROW   UP  133 

^^Well,  I  wouldn't  grow  any  more.  You're  all  right, 
if  you  can  only  manage  to  keep  your  hands  and  feet 
down.  You've  got  good  eyes  and  a  good  jaw,  and  it's 
the  jaw  that  tells  the  man.  Now,  that's  the  trouble 
with  that  Jack  Starr  they  want  to  nominate  for  gov- 
ernor. He  lacks  jaw\  ^  You  can't  make  a  governor 
out  of  a  fellow  who  hasn't  jaw,'  that's  what  I  said. 
And  besides,  he  deliberately  trod  on  my  toe  the  first 
time  I  ever  met  him.  Didn't  know  it  was  gouty,  eh? 
What  right  has  he  got,  I  asked,  to  suppose  that  any 
gentleman's  toe  isn't  gouty?" 

His  lower  lip  protruded  angrily,  and  he  sat  staring 
into  his  glass  of  w^ater  with  an  enquiring  and  sulky 
look.  It  is  no  small  tribute  to  my  capacity  for  hero- 
worship  to  say  that  it  survived  even  this  nearer  ap- 
proach to  the  gouty  presence  of  my  divinity.  But 
the  glamour  of  success  —  the  only  glamour  that  shines 
without  borrowed  light  in  the  hard,  dry  atmosphere 
of  the  workaday  world  —  still  hung  around  him ;  and 
his  very  dissipations  —  yes,  even  his  fleshly  frailties  — • 
reflected,  for  the  moment  at  least,  a  romantic  interest. 
I  began  to  wonder  if  certain  moral  weaknesses  were, 
indeed,  the  inevitable  attributes  of  the  great  man,  and 
there  shot  into  my  mind,  with  a  youthful  folly  of  re- 
gret, the  memory  of  a  drink  I  had  declined  that  morn- 
ing, and  of  a  pretty  maiden  at  the  Old  Market  whom  I 
might  have  kissed  and  did  not.  Was  the  doctor's 
teaching  wrong,  after  all,  and  had  his  virtues  made 
him  a  failure  in  life,  w^hile  the  General's  vices  had  but 
helped  him  to  his  success?  I  was  very  young,  and  I 
had  not  yet  reached  the  age  when  I  could  perceive  the 
expediency  of  the  path  of  virtue  unless  in  the  end  it 


134  THE   BOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAJ^T 

bordered  on  pleasant  places.  ^'The  General  is  a  bigger 
man  than  the  doctor/'  I  thought,  half  angrily,  ^^and 
yet  the  General  will  be  a  gay  old  bird  as  long  as  the 
gout  permits  him  to  hobble/'  And  it  seemed  to  me 
suddenly  that  the  moral  order,  on  which  the  doctor 
loved  to  dilate,  had  gone  topsy-turvy  while  I  stood  on 
the  General's  porch.  As  if  reading  my  thoughts  the 
great  man  looked  up  at  me,  with  his  roguish  twinkle. 

''Now  there's  Theophilus!"  he  observed.  ''What- 
ever you  are,  sir,  don't  be  a  damned  mollycoddle." 

Young  George,  plucking  persistently  at  my  sleeve, 
drew  me  at  last  out  of  the  presence  and  into  the  house, 
where  I  smelt  the  fragrance  of  strawberries,  freshly 
gathered. 

''Here're  the  books,"  said  George,  leading  me  to 
the  door  of  a  long  room,  filled  with  rosewood  book- 
cases and  family  portraits  of  departed  Bolingbrokes. 
Then  as  I  was  about  to  cross  the  threshold,  the  sound 
of  a  bright  voice  speaking  to  the  General  on  the  porch 
caused  me  to  stop  short,  and  stand  holding  my  breath 
in  the  hall. 

"Good  afternoon,  General!  You  look  as  if  you 
needed  exercise." 

"Exercise,  indeed!  Do  you  take  me  for  your  age, 
you  minx?" 

"Oh,  come.  General !     You  aren't  old  —  you're  lazy." 

By  this  time  George  and  I  had  edged  nearer  the 
porch,  and  even  before  he  breathed  her  name  in  a 
whisper,  I  knew  in  the  instant  that  her  sparkling 
glance  ran  over  me,  that  she  was  my  little  girl  of  the 
red  shoes  just  budding  into  womanhood.  She  was 
standing  in  a  square  patch  of  sunlight,  midway  be- 


IX   WHICH   I   GROW    UP  135 

tween  the  steps  and  a  bed  of  red  gerauiums  near  the 
gate,  and  her  dress  of  some  thin  white  material  was 
blown  closely  against  the  curves  of  her  bosom  and 
her  rounded  hips.  Over  her  broad  white  forehead, 
with  its  heavily  arched  black  eyebrows,  the  mass  of 
her  pale  brown  hair  spread  in  the  strong  breeze  and 
stood  out  like  the  wings  of  a  bird  in  tiight,  and  this 
gave  her  whole,  finely  poised  figure  a  s\\ift  and  ex- 
pectant look,  as  of  one  who  is  swept  forward  by  some 
radiant  impulse.  Her  face,  too,  had  this  same  ardent 
expression;  I  saw  it  in  her  eyes,  which  fixed  me  the 
next  moment  with  her  starry  and  friendly  gaze;  in 
her  very  full  red  lips  that  broke  the  pure  outline  of 
her  features;  and  in  her  strong,  square  chin  held 
always  a  little  upward  with  a  proud  and  impatient 
carriage.  So  vivid  was  my  first  glimpse  of  her,  that 
for  a  single  instant  I  wondered  if  the  radiance  in  her 
figure  was  not  produced  by  some  fleeting  accident  of 
light  and  shadow.  When  I  knew  her  better  I  learned 
that  this  quality  of  brightness  belonged  neither  to  the 
mind  nor  to  an  edge  of  light,  but  to  the  face  itself  — 
to  some  peculiar  mingling  of  clear  grey  with  intense 
darkness  in  her  brow  and  eyes. 

As  she  stood  there  chatting  gayly  with  the  General, 
young  George  eyed  her  from  the  darkened  hall  with 
a  glance  in  which  I  read,  when  I  turned  to  him,  a 
touch  of  his  uncle's  playful  masculine  superiority. 

^^ She'll  be  a  stunner,  if  she  doesn't  get  too  big,'' 
he  observed.     '^I  don't  like  big  girls  —  do  you?" 

Then  as  I  made  no  rejoinder,  he  added  after  a 
moment,  ^'Do  you  think  her  mouth  spoils  her? 
Aunt  Hatty  calls  her  mouth  coarse." 


136  THE   KOMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^Coarse ?^^  I  echoed  angrily.  '^What  does  she 
mean  by  coarse?^' 

'^Oh,  too  red  and  too  full.  She  says  a  lady^s  mouth 
ought  to  be  a  delicate  bow.'' 

^'I  never  saw  a  delicate  bow — '' 

''No  more  did  I  —  but  I'd  call  Sally  a  regular 
stunner  now,  mouth  and  all.  Sally!"  he  broke  out 
suddenly,  and  stepped  out  on  the  porch.  ''Ill  go 
riding  with  you  some  day,"  he  said,  "if  you  want 
me." 

She  laughed  up  at  him.     "But  I  don't  want  you." 

■^'You  wanted  me  bad  enough  a  year  ago." 

^'That  was  a  year  ago." 

Running  hurriedly  down  the  steps,  he  stood  talk- 
ing to  her  beside  the  bed  of  scarlet  geraniums,  while 
I  felt  a  burning  embarrassment  pervade  my  body  to 
the  very  palms  of  my  hands. 

"Where's  the  other  fellow,  George?"  called  the 
General,  suddenly.     "What's  become  of  him?" 

As  he  turned  his  head  in  my  direction,  I  left  the 
hall,  and  came  out  upon  the  porch,  acutely  conscious, 
all  the  time,  that  there  was  too  much  of  me,  that  my 
hands  and  feet  got  in  my  way,  that  I  ought  to  have 
put  on  a  different  shirt  in  the  afternoon. 

Sally  was  stooping  over  to  snip  off  the  head  of  a 
geranium,  and  when  she  looked  up  the  next  instant, 
with  her  hair  blown  back  from  her  forehead,  her 
starry,  expectant  gaze  rested  full  on  my  own. 

"Why,  it's  the  boy  I  used  to  know,"  she  exclaimed, 
moving  toward  me.     '^Boy,  how  do  you  do?" 

She  put  out  her  hand,  and  as  I  took  it  in  mine,  I 
saw  for  the  first  time  that  she  was  a  large  girl  for 


IN   WHICH   I   GROW    (JP  137 

her  age,  and  would  be  a  large  woman.  Her  figure 
was  already  ripening  under  her  thin  white  gown,  but 
her  hands  and  feet  were  still  those  of  a  child,  and 
moulded,  I  saw,  with  that  peculiar  delicacy,  which, 
I  had  learned  from  the  doctor,  was  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  the  Virginian  aristocracy. 

^'It  is  a  long  time  since  —  since  I  saw  you,''  she 
remarked  in  a  cordial  voice. 

^^It's  been  eight  years,''  I  answered.  "  I  wonder  that 
you  remember  me." 

^^Oh,  I  never  forget.  And  besides,  if  I  didn't  see 
you  for  eight  years  more,  I  should  still  recognise  you 
by  your  eyes.  There  aren't  many  boys,"  she  said 
merrily,  ^^who  have  eyes  like  a  blue-eyed  collie's." 

With  this  she  turned  from  me  to  George,  and  after 
a  word  or  two  to  the  General,  and  a  nod  in  my  direc- 
tion, they  passed  through  the  gate,  and  went  slowly 
along  the  street,  her  pale  brown  hair  still  blown  like 
a  bird's  wing  behind  her. 

The  General's  sister,  young  George's  Aunt  Hatty,  a 
severe  little  lady,  with  a  very  flat  figure,  had  come  out 
on  the  porch,  and  was  offering  her  brother  a  dose  of 
medicine. 

^'A  good  girl,  Hatty,"  remarked  the  great  man,  in 
an  affable  mood.  ^^A  little  too  much  of  her  Aunt 
Matoaca's  spirit  for  a  wife,  but  a  very  good  girl,  as 
long  as  you  ain't  married  to  her." 

^^She  would  be  handsome,  George,  except  for  her 
mouth.     It's  a  pity  her  mouth  spoils  her." 

^^ What's  the  matter  with  her  mouth?  I  haven't 
got  your  eyesight,  Hatty,  but  it  appears  a  perfectly 
good  mouth  to  me." 


138  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^That's  because  you  have  naturally  coarse  tastes, 
George.     A  lady's  mouth  should  be  a  delicate  bow." 

A  delicate  bow,  indeed  !  Those  full,  sensitive  lips 
that  showed  like  a  splash  of  carmine  in  the  clear 
pallor  of  her  face !  As  I  walked  home  under  the 
broad,  green  leaves  of  the  sycamores,  I  remembered 
the  features  of  the  pretty  maiden  at  the  Old  Market, 
and  they  appeared  to  me  suddenly  divested  of  all 
beauty.  It  was  as  if  a  bright  beam  of  sunshine  had 
fallen  on  a  blaze  of  artificial  light,  and  extinguished  it 
forever.  Henceforth  I  should  move  straight  toward  a 
single  love,  as  I  had  already  begun  to  move  straight 
toward  a  single  ambition. 


CHAPTER  XI 

m   WHICH   I   ENTER   SOCIETY   AND   GET   A   FALL 

My  first  successful  speculation  was  made  in  my 
twenty-first  year  with  five  hundred  dollars  paid  to  me 
by  Bob  Brackett  when  the  Xectar  blend  had  been 
six  months  on  the  market.  By  the  GeneraFs  advice 
I  put  the  money  in  the  Old  South  Chemical  Company, 
and  selling  out  a  little  later  at  high  profits,  I  imme- 
diately reinvested.  As  the  years  went  by,  that  smok- 
ing mixture,  discovered  almost  by  accident  in  an  idle 
moment,  began  to  yield  me  considerably  larger  checks 
twice  a  year;  and  twice  a  year,  with  the  General's 
enthusiastic  assistance,  I  went  in  for  a  modest  specu- 
lation from  which  I  hoped  sometime  to  reap  a  for- 
tune. When  I  was  twenty-five,  a  temporary  depres- 
sion in  the  market  gave  me  the  opportunity  which,  as 
Dr.  Theophilus  had  informed  me  almost  daily  for  ten 
years,  '^  waits  always  around  the  corner  for  the  man 
who  walks  quickly."  I  put  everything  I  owned  into 
copper  mining  stock,  then  selling  very  low,  and  a 
year  later  when  the  copper  trade  recovered  quickly 
and  grew  active,  I  rushed  to  the  General  and  enquired 
breathlessly  if  I  must  sell  out. 

^^Hold  on  and  await  developments,'^  he  replied  from 
his  wicker  chair  over  his  bandaged  foot,  "and  remem- 
ber that  the  successful  speculator  is  the  man  who 
always   runs  in  the   other  direction  from  the  crowd. 

139 


140  THE  ROMANCE   OF  A   PLAIN   MAN 

When  you  see  people  sitting  still,  you'd  better  get  up, 
and  when  you  see  them  begin  to  get  up,  you'd  better 
sit  still.  Fortune's  a  woman,  you  know ;  don't  try  to 
flirt  with  her,  but  at  the  same  time  don't  throw  your 
boots  at  her  head." 

Five  years  before  I  had  left  the  tobacco  factory  to 
go  into  the  General's  office,  and  my  days  were  spent 
now,  absorbed  and  alert,  beside  the  chair  in  which 
he  sat,  coolly  playing  his  big  game  of  chess,  and  con- 
trolling a  railroad.  He  was  in  his  day  the  strongest 
financier  in  the  South,  and  he  taught  me  my  lesson. 
Tireless,  sleepless,  throbbing  with  a  fever  that  was 
like  the  fever  of  love,  I  studied  at  his  side  every  move- 
ment of  the  mar]vet,  I  weighed  every  word  he  uttered, 
I  watched  every  stroke  of  his  stout  cork-handled  pen. 
An  infallible  judge  of  men,  my  intimate  knowledge 
soon  taught  me  that  it  was  by  judging  men,  not 
things,  he  had  won  his  success.  '^  Learn  men,  learn 
men,  learn  men,"  he  would  repeat  in  one  of  his  fre- 
quent losses  of  temper.  ^^  Everything  rests  on  a  man, 
and  the  way  to  know  the  thing  is  to  know  the  man." 

^'That's  why  I'm  learning  you,  General,"  I  once 
replied,  as  he  hobbled  out  of  his  office  on  my  arm. 

^'Oh,  I  know,  I  know,"  he  retorted  with  his  sly 
chuckle.  '^You  are  letting  me  lean  on  you  now  be- 
cause you  think  the  time  will  come  when  you  can 
throw  me  aside  and  stand  up  by  yourself.  It's  age 
and  youth,  my  boy,  age  and  youth," 

He  sighed  wearily,  and  looking  at  him  I  saw  for  the 
first  time  that  he  was  growing  old. 

''Well,  you've  stood  straight  enough  in  your  day, 
sir,"  I  answered. 


I   ENTER   SOCIETY   AND    GET   A   FALL  Ul 

^'Oh,  I've  had  my  youth,  and  I  shan't  begin  to  put 
on  a  long  face  because  I've  lost  it.  I  didn't  have 
your  stature,  Ben,  but  I  had  a  pretty  fair  middling- 
size  one  of  my  own.  They  used  to  say  of  me  that  I 
had  an  eye  for  the  big  chance,  and  that's  a  thing  a 
man's  got  to  be  born  \yith.  To  see  big  you've  got  to 
be  big,  and  that's  what  I  like  about  you  —  you  ain't 
busy  looking  for  specks." 

^'Tf  I  can  only  become  as  big  a  man  as  you,  General, 
I  shall  be  content." 

^^No,  you  won't,  no,  you  won't,  don't  stop  at  me. 
Already  they  are  beginning  to  call  you  my  ^wonderful 
boy,'  you  know.  ^I  like  that  wonderful  boy  of  yours, 
George,'  Jessoms  said  to  me  only  last  night  at  the 
club.  You  know  Jessoms  —  don't  you?  He's  presi- 
dent of  the  Union  Bank." 

^' Yes,  I  talked  to  him  for  two  solid  hours  yesterday." 

'^He  told  me  so,  and  I  said  to  him:  'By  Jove, 
you're  right,  Jessoms,  and  that  boy's  got  a  future 
ahead  of  him  if  he  doesn't  swell.'  Now  that's  the 
Gospel  truth,  Ben,  and  all  the  body  you've  got  ain't 
going  to  save  you  if  you  don't  keep  your  head.  If 
you  ever  feel  it  beginning  to  sw^ell,  you  step  outside 
and  put  it  under  a  pump,  that's  the  best  thing  I  know 
of.     How  old  are  you?" 

'^Twenty-sLx." 

'^^Lnd  you've  got  fifty  thousand  dollars  already?" 

''Thanks  to  you,  sir." 

''So  you  ain't  swelled  yet.  Well,  I've  given  you 
six  years  of  hard  training,  and  I  made  it  all  the  blamed 
harder  because  I  liked  you.  You've  got  the  look  of 
success  about  you,  I've  seen  enough  of  it  to  know  it. 


142  THE   ROMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

They  used  to  say  of  me  in  Washington  that  I  could 
sit  in  my  office  chair  and  overlook  a  line  of  men  and 
spot  every  last  one  of  them  that  was  going  to  get  on. 
I  never  went  wrong  but  once,  and  that  was  because 
the  poor  devil  began  to  swell  and  thought  he  was  as 
big  as  his  own  shadow.  But  if  the  look's  there,  I  see 
it  —  it's  something  in  the  eye  and  the  jaw,  and  the 
grip  of  the  hands  that  nobody  can  give  you  except 
God  Almighty  —  and  by  George,  it  turns  me  into  a 
downright  heathen  and  makes  me  believe  in  fate. 
When  a  man  has  that  something  in  the  eye  and  in  the 
jaw  and  in  the  grip  of  the  hand,  there  ain't  enough 
devils  in  the  universe  to  keep  him  from  coming  out  on 
top  at  the  last.  He  may  go  under,  but  he  won't  stay 
under  —  no,  sir,  not  if  they  pile  all  the  bu'sted  stocks 
in  the  market  on  top  his  shoulders." 

^^  Anyway,  you've  started  me  rolling,  General, 
whether  I  spin  on  or  come  to  a  dead  stop." 

^'Then  remember,"  he  retorted  slyly,  as  we  parted, 
^Hhat  my  earnest  advice  to  a  young  man  starting  in 
business  is  —  don't  begin  to  swell !" 

There  was  small  danger  of  that,  I  thought,  as  I 
went  on  alone  with  my  vision  of  the  Great  South 
Midland  and  Atlantic  Eailroad.  From  my  childhood 
I  had  seen  the  big  road,  as  I  saw  it  to-day,  sweeping 
in  a  bright  track  over  the  entire  South,  lengthening, 
branching,  winding  away  toward  the  distant  horizon, 
girdling  the  cotton  fields,  the  rice  fields,  and  the  coal 
fields,  like  a  protecting  arm.  One  by  one,  I  saw  now, 
the  small  adjunct  lines  absorbed  by  the  main  system, 
until  in  the  whole  South  only  the  Great  South  Mid- 
land and  Atlantic  would  be  left.     To  dominate  that 


I   ENTER   SOCIETY   AND    GET   A  FALL  U3 

living  organism,  to  control,  in  my  turn,  that  splendid 
liberator  of  a  people's  resources,  this  was  still  the 
inaccessible  hope  upon  which  I  had  fixed  my  heart. 

In  my  room  I  found  young  George  Bolingbroke, 
who  had  been  waiting,  as  he  at  once  informed  me,  '^a 
good  half  an  hour." 

^'I  say,  Ben,"  he  broke  out  the  next  minute,  ''why 
donH  you  get  the  housemaid  to  tie  your  cravats? 
SheM  do  it  a  long  sight  better.  Are  your  fingers  all 
thumbs?" 

''They  must  be,"  I  replied  with  a  humility  I  had 
never  assumed  before  the  General,  '^I  can't  do  the 
thing  properly  to  save  my  life." 

"I  wonder  it  doesn't  give  you  a  common  look," 
he  remarked  dispassionately,  while  I  winced  at  the 
word,  "but  somehow  it  only  makes  you  appear  su- 
perior to  such  trifles,  like  a  giant  gazing  over  mole- 
hills at  a  mountain.  It's  your  size,  I  reckon,  but 
you're  the  kind  of  chap  who  can  put  on  a  turned- 
down  collar  with  your  evening  clothes,  or  a  tie 
that's  been  twisted  through  a  wringer,  and  not  look 
ridiculous.  It's  the  rest  of  us  that  seem  fops  be- 
cause we're  properly  dressed." 

"I'd  prefer  to  wear  the  right  thing,  you  know," 
I  returned,  crestfallen. 

"You  never  will.  Anybody  might  as  well  expect 
a  mountain  to  put  forth  rose-bushes  instead  of  pine. 
It  suits  you,  somehow,  like  your  hair,  which  would 
make  the  rest  of  us  look  a  regular  guy.  But  I'm  for- 
getting my  mission.  I've  brought  you  an  invitation 
to  a  party." 

"What  on  earth  should  I  do  at  a  party?" 


U4  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'Look  pleasant.  Did  I  take  you  to  Miss  Lessie 
Bell's  dancing  class  for  nothing?  and  were  you  put 
through  the  steps  of  the  Highland  Fling  in  vain?'^ 

^^I  wasn^t  put  through,  I  never  learned/^ 

'^Well,  you  kicked  at  it  anyway.  I  say,  is  all  your 
pirouetting  to  be  done  with  stocks?  Are  you  going 
to  pass  away  in  ignorance  of  polite  society  and  the 
manners  of  the  ladies  ?^^ 

^^When  I  make  a  fortune,  perhaps — '^ 

'^Perhaps  is  always  too  la.te.     To-morrow  is  better/' 

'^ Where  is  the  party?'' 

^^The  Blands  are  giving  it.  Uncle  George  was 
puffing  and  blowing  about  you  when  we  dined  there 
last  Sunday,  and  Sally  Mickleborough  told  me  to  bring 
you  to  her  party  on  Wednesday  night.'' 

Rising  hurriedly  I  walked  away  from  young  George 
to  the  fireplace.  A  mist  was  before  my  eyes,  I  smelt 
again  the  scent  of  wallflowers,  and  I  saw  in  a  dream 
the  old  grey  house,  with  its  delicate  lace  curtains 
parted  from  the  small  square  window-panes  as  if  a 
face  looked  out  on  the  crooked  pavement. 

^^I'll  go,  George,"  I  said,  wheeling  about,  ^^if  you'll 
pledge  yourself  that  I  go  properly  dressed." 

^'Done,"  he  responded,  with,  his  unfailing  ami- 
ability. ^^I'll  tie  your  cravat  myself;  and  thank  your 
stars,  Ben,  that  whatever  you  are,  you  can't  be  little^i 
for  that's  the  unforgivable  sin  in  Sally's  eyes." 

On  Wednesday  night  he  proved  as  good  as  his' 
promise,  and  when  nine  o'clock  struck,  it  found  me, 
in  irreproachable  evening  clothes,  following  him  down 
Franklin  Street,  to  the  old  house,  where  a  softly 
coloured  light  streamed  through  the  windows  and  lay 


I   ENTER   SOCIETY   AND   GET   A   FALL  145 

in  a  rosy  pool  under  the  sycamores.  All  day  I  had 
been  very  nervous.  At  the  moment  when  I  was 
reading  telegrams  for  the  General,  I  had  suddenly 
remembered  that  I  possessed  no  gloves  suitable  to  be 
worn  at  my  first  party,  and  I  had  committed  so  many 
blunders  that  the  great  man  had  roared  the  word 
'^Swelled  !'^  in  a  furious  tone.  Now,  however,  when 
the  sound  of  a  waltz,  played  softly  on  stringed  instru- 
ments, fell  on  my  ears,  my  nervousness  departed  as 
quickly  as  it  had  come.  The  big  mahogany  doors 
swung  open  before  us,  and  as  I  passed  with  George, 
into  the  brilliantly  lighted  hall,  where  the  perfume  of 
roses  filled  the  air,  I  managed  to  move,  if  not  with 
grace,  at  least  with  the  necessary  dignity  of  an  invited 
guest.  The  lamps,  placed  here  and  there  amid  feathery 
palm  branches,  glowed  under  pink  shades  like  enor- 
mous roses  in  full  bloom,  and  up  and  down  the  wide 
staircase,  carpeted  in  white,  a  number  of  pretty  girls 
tripped  under  trailing  garlands  of  Southern  smilax. 
As  we  entered  the  door  on  the  right,  I  saw  Miss 
Mitty  and  Miss  Matoaca,  standing  very  erect  in  their 
black  brocades  and  old  lace,  with  outstretched  hands 
and  constantly  smiling  lips. 

George  presented  me,  with  the  slightly  formal  man- 
ner which  seemed  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  I  had 
held  the  little  hand  of  each  lady  for  a  minute  in  my 
own,  and  had  looked  once  into  each  pair  of  brightly 
shining  eyes,  when  my  glance,  dropping  from  theirs, 
flew  straight  as  a  bird  to  Sally  Mickleborough,  who 
stood  talking  animatedly  to  an  elderly  gentleman  with 
grey  side-whiskers  and  a  pleasant  laugh.  She  was 
dressed  all  in  white,  and  her  pale  brown  hair,  which  I 


146  THE   ROMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

had  last  seen  flying  like  the  wing  of  a  bird,  was  now 
braided  and  wound  in  a  wreath  about  her  head.  As 
the  elderly  gentleman  bowed  and  passed  on^  she  lifted 
her  eyes,  and  her  starry,  expectant  gaze  rested  full  on 
my  face. 

Between  us  there  stretched  an  expanse  of  polished 
floor,  in  which  the  pink-shaded  lamps  and  the  nodding 
roses  w^ere  mirrored  as  in  a  pool.  Around  us  there  was 
the  music  of  stringed  instruments,  playing  a  waltz 
softly;  the  sound,  too,  of  many  voices,  now  laughing, 
now  whispering;  of  Miss  Mitty's  repeated  ^^It  was  so 
good  of  you  to  come '' ;  of  Miss  Matoaca's  gently  mur- 
mured ^^  We  are  so  glad  to  have  you  with  us'^ ;  of  Dr. 
Theophilus's  ^'You  grow  younger  every  day,  ladies. 
Will  you  dance  to-night?'^;  of  General  Bolingbroke^s 
^^I  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  coming  to  you  in 
my  life,  ma'am '^ ;  of  a  confused  chorus  of  girlish  mur- 
murs, of  youthful  merriment. 

For  one  delirious  instant  it  seemed  to  me  that  if  I 
stepped  on  the  shining  floor,  I  should  go  down  as  on  a 
frozen  pool.  Then  her  look  summoned  me,  and  as  I 
drew  nearer  she  held  out  her  hand  and  stood  waiting. 
There  was  a  white  rose  in  her  wTeath  of  plaits,  and 
when  I  bent  to  speak  to  her  the  fragrance  floated  about 
me. 

^^Do  you  still  remember  me  because  of  the  blue-eyed 
collie?"  I  asked,  for  it  was  all  I  could  think  of. 

Her  firm  square  chin  was  tilted  a  little  upward,  and 
as  she  smiled  at  me,  her  thick  black  eyebrows  were 
raised  in  the  old  childish  expression  of  charming  arch- 
ness. It  was  the  face  of  an  idea  rather  than  the  face 
of  a  woman,  and  the  power,  the  humour,  the  radiant 


I    ENTER    SOCIETY    AXD    GET    A    FALL  U? 

energy  in  her  look,  appeared  to  divide  her,  as  by  an 
immeasurable  distance,  from  the  pretty  girls  of  her 
own  age  among  whom  she  stood.  She  seemed  at  once 
older  and  younger  than  her  companions  —  older  by 
some  deeper  and  sadder  knowledge  of  life,  younger 
because  of  the  peculiar  buoyancy  with  which  she 
moved  and  spoke.  As  I  looked  at  her  mouth,  very 
full,  of  an  almost  violent  red,  and  tremulous  with  ex- 
pression, I  remembered  Miss  Hatty's  "deHcate  bow" 
with  an  odd  feeling  of  anger. 

"It  has  been  a  long  time,  but  I  haven't  forgotten 
you,  Ben  Starr,"  she  said. 

"Do  you  remember  the  night  of  the  storm  and  the 
cup  of  milk  you  wouldn't  drink?" 

"How  horrid  I  was!  And  the  geranium  you  gave 
me?" 

"And  the  churchyard  and  the  red  shoes  and 
Samuel?" 

'^Poor  Samuel.  I  can't  have  any  dogs  now.  Aunt 
Mitty  doesn't  Uke  them — " 

Some  one  came  up  to  speak  to  her,  and  while  I  bowed 
awkwardly  and  turned  away,  I  saw  her  gaze  looking 
back  at  me  from  the  roses  and  the  pink-shaded  lamps. 
A  touch  on  my  arm  brought  the  face  of  young  George 
between  me  and  my  ecstatic  ^i.sions. 

'  ^  I  say,  Ben,  there's  an  awfully  pretty  girl  over  there 
I  want  you  to  waltz  with  —  Bessy  Dandridge." 

In  spite  of  my  protest  he  led  me  the  next  instant  to 
a  slim  figure  in  pink  tarlatan,  ^dth  a  crown  of  azaleas, 
who  sat  in  one  corner  between  two  very  stout  ladies. 
As  I  approached,  the  stout  ladies  smiled  at  me  benignly, 
hiding  suppressed  yawns  behind  feather  fans.     Miss 


148  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

iDandridge  was^  as  George  said,  ^'awfully  pretty/^  with 
large  shallow  eyes  of  pale  blue,  an  insipid  mouth,  and 
a  shy  little  smile  that  looked  as  if  she  had  put  it  on 
T\dth  her  crown  of  azaleas  and  would  take  it  off  again 
and  lay  it  away  in  her  bureau  drawer  when  the  party 
was  over. 

^^Get  up  and  dance,  dear,'^  urged  one  of  the  stout 
ladies  sleepily,  ^^we  ought  to  have  come  earlier.'^ 

^^The  girls  look  very  well,"  remarked  the  other,  sud- 
denly alert  and  interested,  ^^but  I  don't  like  this  new 
fashion  of  wearing  the  hair.  Sally  Mickleborough  is 
handsome,  though  it's  a  pity  she  takes  so  much  after 
her  father." 

My  arm  was  already  around  the  pink  tarlatan  waist 
of  my  partner,  the  crown  of  azaleas  had  brushed  my 
shoulder  like  a  gentle  caress,  and  I  had  whirled  half- 
way down  the  room  in  triumphant  agony,  when  a  float- 
ing phrase  uttered  in  a  girlish  voice  entered  my  ears 
and  carried  confusion  into  my  brain. 

'^Get  out  of  the  way.  Doesn't  Bessy  look  for  all  the 
world  like  a  rose-bush  uprooted  by  a  whirlwind?" 

I  caught  the  words  as  I  went,  and  they  proved  too 
much  for  the  trembling  balance  of  my  self-confidence. 
My  strained  gaze,  fixed  on  the  glassy  surface  beneath 
my  feet,  plunged  suddenly  downward  amid  the  re- 
flected roses  and  lamps.  The  music  went  wild  and 
out  of  tune  on  the  air.  My  blood  beat  violently  in  my 
pulses,  I  made  a  single  false  step,  tripped  over  a  flounce 
of  pink  tarlatan,  which  seemed  to  shriek  as  I  went 
down,  and  the  next  instant  my  partner  and  I  were  flat 
on  the  polished  floor,  clutching  desperately  for  support 
at  the  mirrored  roses  beneath. 


I   ENTER   SOCIETY   AXD   GET   A   FALL  149 

The  wreck  lasted  only  a  minute.  A  single  sup- 
pressed titter  fell  on  my  ears,  and  was  instantly 
checked.  I  looked  up  in  time  to  see  a  smile  freeze  on 
Miss  Mitty^s  face,  and  melt  immediately  into  an  ex- 
pression of  sympathy.  The  pretty  girl,  with  the 
crown  of  azalea  hanging  awry  on  her  flaxen  tresses, 
and  her  flounce  of  pink  tarlatan  held  disconsolately  in 
her  hand,  looked  for  one  dreadful  instant  as  if  she 
were  about  to  burst  into  tears.  A  few  dancers  had 
stopped  and  gathered  sympathetically  around  us,  but 
the  rest  were  happily  whirling  on,  while  the  music,  after 
a  piercing  crescendo,  came  breathlessly  to  a  pause 
amid  a  silence  that  I  felt  to  be  far  louder  than  sound. 
The  perspiration,  forced  out  by  inward  agony,  stood 
in  drops  on  my  forehead,  and  as  I  wiped  it  away,  I  said 
almost  defiantly :  — 

^'Tt  was  the  fault  of  George  Bolingbroke.  I  told 
him  I  didn't  know  how  to  dance." 

''I  think  I'd  better  go  home,"  murmured  the  heroine 
of  the  disaster,  catching  her  lower  lip  in  her  teeth  to 
bite  back  a  sob,  ^^I  wonder  where  mamma  can  be?" 

''Here,  dear,"  responded  a  commiserating  voice,  and 
I  was  about  to  turn  away  in  disgrace  without  a  further 
apology,  when  the  little  circle  around  us  divided  with 
a  flutter,  and  Sally  appeared,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  a 
youth  ^dth  bulging  eyes  and  a  lantern  jaw. 

''Go  home,  Bessy  ?  Why,  how  silly  ! "  she  exclaimed, 
^nd  her  energetic  voice  seemed  suddenly  to  dominate 
the  situation.  "It  wasn't  so  many  years  ago,  I^m  sure, 
that  you  used  to  tumble  for  the  pleasure  of  it.  Here, 
let  me  pin  on  your  crown,  and  then  run  straight  upstairs 
to  the  red  room  and  get  mammy  to  mend  your  flounce. 


150  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

It  won't  take  her  a  minute.  There^  now,  you're  all 
the  prettier  for  a  high  colour." 

When  she  had  pushed  Bessy  across  the  threshold 
with  her  small,  strong  hands,  she  turned  to  me,  laugh- 
ing a  little,  and  slipped  her  arm  into  mine  with  the  air 
of  a  young  queen  bestowing  a  favour. 

^^It's  just  as  well,  Ben  Starr,"  she  said,  ^^that  you're 
engaged  to  me  for  this  dance,  and  not  to  a  timid  lady.'' 

It  wasn't  my  dance,  I  knew;  in  fact,  I  had  not 
had  sufficient  boldness  to  ask  her  for  one,  and  I  dis- 
covered the  next  minute,  when  she  sent  away  rather 
impatiently  a  youth  who  approached,  that  she  had 
taken  such  glorious  possession  merely  from  some  in- 
domitable instinct  to  give  people  pleasure. 

''Shall  we  sit  down  and  talk  a  little  over  there  under 
the  smilax?"  she  asked,  ''or  would  you  rather  dance? 
If  you'd  like  to  dance,"  she  added  with  a  sparkle  in  her 
face,  "I  am  not  afraid." 

"Well,  I  am,"  I  retorted,  "I  shall  never  dance  again." 

"How  serious  that  sounds  —  but  since  you've  made 
the  resolution  I  hope  you'll  keep  it.  I  like  things  to 
be  kept." 

"There's  no  chance  of  my  breaking  it.  I  never  made 
but  one  other  solemn  vow  in  my  life." 

"And  you've  kept  that?" 

"I  am  keeping  it  now." 

She  sat  down,  arranging  her  white  draperies  under 
the  festoons  of  smilax,  her  left  hand,  from  which  a  big 
feather  fan  drooped,  resting  on  her  knees,  her  small, 
white-slippered  foot  moving  to  the  sound  of  the  waltz. 

"Was  it  a  vow  not  to  grow  any  more?"  she  asked 
with  a  soft  laugh. 


I   ENTER    SOCIETY   AND    GET   A   FALL  151 

^'It  wae/^  I  leaned  toward  her  and  the  fragrance  of 
the  white  rose,  drooping  a  httle  in  her  wreath  of  plaits, 
filled  my  nostrils,  ^'that  I  would  not  stay  common." 

Her  lashes,  which  had  been  lowered,  were  raised 
suddenly,  and  I  met  her  eyes.  ^'0  Ben  Starr,  Ben 
Starr,''  she  said,  ''how  well  you  have  kept  it !'' 

^'Do  you  remember  the  stormy  night  when  you  would 
not  let  me  take  your  wet  cap  because  I  was  a  common 
boy?" 

''How  hat-eful  I  must  have  been  !" 

"On  that  night  I  determined  that  I  would  not  grow 
up  to  be  a  common  man.  That  was  why  I  ran  away, 
that  was  why  I  went  into  the  tobacco  factory,  that 
was  why  I  started  to  learn  Johnson's  Dictionary  by 
heart  —  why  I  drudged  over  my  Latin,  why  I  went 
into  stocks,  why — " 

Her  eyes  had  not  left  my  face,  but  unfurling  the  big 
feather  fan,  she  waved  it  slowly  between  us.  I,  who 
had,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Theophilus,  "no  small  wits  in 
my  head,"  who  could  stand,  dumb  and  a  clown,  in  a 
ballroom,  who  could  even  trip  up  my  partner,  had 
found  words  that  could  arrest  the  gaze  of  the  woman 
before  me.  To  talk  at  all  I  must  talk  of  big  things, 
and  it  was  of  big  things  that  I  now  spoke  —  of  pov- 
erty, of  struggle,  of  failure,  of  aspiration.  My  mind, 
Hke  my  body,  was  not  rounded  to  the  lighter  graces, 
the  rippling  surface,  that  society  requires.  In  my 
everyday  clothes,  among  men,  I  was  at  no  loss  for 
words,  but  the  high  collar  and  the  correctly  tied  cravat 
I  wore  seemed  to  strangle  my  throat,  until  those 
starry  eyes,  seeking  big  things  also,  had  looked  into 
mine.     Then  I  forgot  my  fruitless  efforts  at  conversa- 


152  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

tion,  I  forgot  the  height  of  my  collar^  the  stiffness  of 
my  shirt,  the  size  of  my  hands  and  my  feet.  I  forgot 
that  I  was  a  plain  man,  and  remembered  only  that  I 
was  a  man.  The  merely  social,  the  trivial,  the  com- 
monplace, dropped  from  my  thoughts.  My  dignity,  — 
the  dignity  that  George  Bolingbroke  had  called  that 
of  size,  —  was  restored  to  me ;  and  beyond  the  rosy 
lights  and  the  disturbing  music,  we  stood  a  man  and 
a  woman  together.  Our  consciousness  had  left  the 
surface  of  life.  We  had  become  acutely  aware  of  each 
other  and  aware,  too,  of  the  silence  in  which  our  eyes 
wavered  and  met. 

'^That  was  why  I  starved  and  sweated  and  drudged 
and  longed, '^  I  added,  while  her  fan  waved  with 
its  large,  slow  movement  between  us,  ^^that  was 
why— ^^ 

Her  lips  parted,  she  leaned  slightly  forward,  and  I 
saw  in  her  face  what  I  had  never  seen  in  the  face  of  a 
woman  before  —  the  bloom  of  a  soul. 

^^And  you've  done  this  all  your  life?" 

^•' Since  that  stormy  evening." 

'^  You  have  won  —  already  you  have  won  — " 

''Not  yet.  I  am  beginning  and  I  may  win  in  the 
end  if  I  keep  steady,  if  I  don't  lose  my  head.  I  shall 
win  in  the  end  —  perhaps  — " 

''You  will  win  what?" 

"A  fortune  it  may  be,  or  it  may  be  even  the  thing 
that  has  made  the  fortune  seem  worth  the  having." 

"And  that  is?"  she  asked  simply. 

"It  is  too  long  a  story.  Some  day,  if  you  will  listen, 
I  may  tell  you,  but  not  now  — " 

The  dance  stopped,  she  rose  to  her  feet,  and  George 


I    ENTER    SOCIETY   AND    GET    A   FALL  153 

Bolingbroke^  rushing  excitedly  to  where  we  stood , 
claimed  the  coming  Virginia  reel  as  his  own. 

^'Some  day  you  shall  tell  me  the  long  story,  Ben 
Starr/^  she  said,  as  she  gave  me  her  hand. 

I  watched  her  take  her  place  in  the  Virginia  reel, 
watched  the  dance  begin,  watched  her  full,  womanly 
figure^  in  its  soft  white  draperies,  glide  between  the 
lines,  with  her  head  held  high,  her  hand  in  George 
Bolingbroke's^  her  white  slippers  skimming  the  polished 
floor.  Then  turning  away,  I  walked  slowly  down  the 
length  of  the  two  drawing-rooms,  and  said  '^Good- 
night"  to  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss  Matoaca  near  the 
door.  As  I  passed  into  the  hall,  I  heard  a  woman's 
voice  murmur  distinctly :  — 

''Yes,  he  is  a  magnificent  animal,  but  he  has  no 
social  manner." 


CHAPTER  XII 

I  WALK  INTO  THE  COUNTRY  AND  MEET  WITH  AN 
ADVENTURE 

My  sleep  that  night  was  broken  by  dreams  of  roses 
and  pink-shaded  lamps.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life 
my  brain  and  body  alike  refused  rest,  and  the  one  was 
illumined  as  by  the  rosy  glow  of  a  flame,  while  the 
other  was  scorched  by  a  fever  which  kept  me  tossing 
sleeplessly  between  Mrs.  Clay's  lavender-scented  sheets. 
At  last  when  the  sun  rose,  I  got  out  of  bed,  and  hurriedly 
dressing,  went  up  Franklin  Street,  and  turned  into  one 
of  the  straight  country  roads  which  led  through  bronzed 
levels  of  broomsedge.  Eastward  the  sun  was  plough- 
ing a  purple  furrow  across  the  sky,  and  tow^ard  the 
south  a  single  golden  cloud  hung  over  some  thin 
stretches  of  pine.  The  ghost  of  a  moon,  pale  and 
watery,  was  riding  low,  after  a  night  of  high  frolic,  and 
as  the  young  dawn  grew  stronger,  I  watched  her  melt 
gradually  away  like  a  face  that  one  sees  through  smoke. 
The  October  wind,  blowing  with  a  biting  edge  over 
the  broomsedge,  bent  the  blood-red  tops  of  the  sumach 
like  pointed  flames  toward  the  road. 

For  me  a  new  light  shone  on  the  landscape  —  a  light 
that  seemed  to  have  its  part  in  the  high  wind,  in  the 
waving  broomsedge,  and  in  the  rising  sun.  For  the 
first  time  since  those  old  days  in  the  churchyard  I  felt 

1'^4 


I   MEET   WITH   AN   ADVENTURE  155 

with  every  fibre  of  me,  with  every  beat  of  my  pulses,  with 
every  drop  of  my  blood,  that  it  was  good  to  be  alive 
—  that  it  was  worth  while  every  bit  of  it.  My  starved 
boyhood,  the  drudgery  in  the  tobacco  factory,  the 
breathless  nights  in  the  Old  Market,  the  hours  when, 
leaning  over  Johnson's  Dictionary,  I  had  been  obliged 
to  pinch  myself  to  keep  wide  awake  —  the  squalor 
out  of  which  I  had  come,  and  the  future  into  which  I 
was  going  —  all  these  were  a  part  to-day  of  this  strange 
new  ecstasy  that  sang  in  the  wind  and  moved  in  the 
waving  broomsedge. 

And  through  it  all  ran  my  thoughts : ' '  How  fragrant  the 
white  rose  was  in  her  hair  !  How  tremulous  her  mouth  ! 
Are  her  eyes  grey  or  green,  and  is  it  only  the  heavy 
shadow  of  her  lashes  that  makes  them  appear  black  at 
times,  as  if  they  changed  colour  mth  her  thoughts? 
Is  it  possible  that  she  could  ever  love  me  ?  If  I  make 
a  fortune  w^ill  that  bring  me  any  nearer  to  her?  Ob- 
scure as  I  am  my  cause  is  hopeless,  but  even  if  I  were 
rich  and  powerful,  should  I  ever  dare  to  ascend  the 
steps  of  that  house  w^here  I  had  once  delivered  market- 
ing at  the  kitchen  door?'' 

The  memory  of  the  spring  morning  when  I  had  first 
gone  there  with  my  basket  on  my  arm  returned  to  me, 
and  I  saw  myself  again  as  a  ragged,  barefooted  boy 
resting  beneath  the  silvery  branches  of  the  great  syca- 
more. Even  then  I  had  dreamed  of  her;  all  through 
my  life  the  thought  of  her  had  run  like  a  thread  of  gold. 
I  remembered  her  as  she  had  stood  in  our  little  kitchen 
on  that  stormy  October  evening,  holding  her  mop  of  a 
muff  in  her  cold  little  hands,  and  looking  back  at  me 
with  her  sparkling  defiant  gaze.     Then  she  came  to  me 


156  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

in  her  red  shoes,  dancing  over  the  coloured  leaves  in  the 
churchyard,  and  a  minute  later,  as  she  had  knelt  in 
the  box-bordered  path  patiently  building  her  houses 
of  moss  and  stones.  As  a  child  she  had  stirred  my 
imagination,  as  a  woman  she  had  filled  and  possessed 
my  thoughts.  Always  I  had  seen  her  a  little  above, 
a  little  beyond,  but  still  beckoning  me  on. 

The  next  instant  my  thoughts  dropped  back  to  the 
evening  before,  and  I  went  over  word  for  word  every 
careless  phrase  she  had  spoken.  Was  she  merely  kind 
to  the  boor  in  her  house  ?  or  had  there  been  a  deeper 
meaning  in  her  divine  smile  —  in  her  suddenly  lifted 
eyes?  ^^0  Ben  Starr,  you  have  won!''  she  had  said, 
and  had  the  thrill  in  her  voice,  the  tremor  of  her  bosom 
under  its  fall  of  lace,  meant  that  her  heart  was  touched  ? 
Modest  or  humble  I  had  never  been.  The  will  to  fight 
—  the  exaggerated  self-importance,  the  overweening 
pride  of  the  strong  man  who  has  made  his  way  by  buf- 
feting obstacles,  were  all  mine ;  and  yet,  walking  there 
that  morning  in  the  high  wind  between  the  rolling 
broomsedge  and  the  blood-red  sumach,  I  was  aware 
again  of  the  boyish  timidity  with,  which  I  had  carried 
my  market  basket  so  many  years  ago  to  her  kitchen 
doorstep.  She  had  said  of  me  last  night  that  I  was  no 
longer  ^'common.''  Was  that  because  she  had  read  in 
my  glance  that  I  had  kept  myself  pure  for  her  sake  ?  — 
that  for  her  sake  I  had  made  myself  strong  to  resist 
as  well  as  to  achieve?  Would  Miss  Mitty's  or  Miss 
Matoaca's  verdict,  I  wondered,  have  been  as  merciful, 
as  large  as  hers?  ^^A  magnificent  animal,  but  with  no 
social  manner,''  the  voice  had  said  of  me,  and  the  words 
burned  now,  hot  with  shame,  in  my  memory.     The 


I  MEET   WITH   AX   ADVENTURE  157 

recollection  of  my  fall  in  the  dance,  of  the  crying  lips 
of  the  pretty  girl  in  pink  tarlatan,  while  she  stood  hold- 
ing her  ruined  flounce,  became  positive  agony.  What 
did  she  think  of  my  boorishness  ?  Was  I,  for  her  also, 
merely  a  magnificent  animal?  Had  she  noticed  how 
ill  at  ease  I  felt  in  my  evening  clothes?  0  young 
Love,  young  Love,  your  sharpest  torments  are  not 
with  arrows,  but  with  pin  pricks  ! 

A  trailing  blackberry  vine,  running  like  a  crimson 
vein  close  to  the  earth,  caught  my  foot,  and  I  stooped 
for  a  minute.  When  I  looked  up  she  was  standing 
clear  against  the  reflected  light  of  the  sunrise,  where 
a  low  hill  rose  above  the  stretches  of  broomsedge.  Her 
sorrel  mare  was  beside  her,  licking  contentedly  at  a 
bright  branch  of  sassafras ;  and  I  saw  that  she  had  evi- 
dently dismounted  but  the  moment  before.  As  I  ap- 
proached, she  fastened  her  riding  skirt  above  her  high 
boots,  and  kneeling  down  on  the  dusty  roadside,  lifted 
the  mare's  foot  and  examined  it  with  searching  and 
anxious  eyes.  Her  three-cornered  riding  hat  had 
slipped  to  her  shoulders,  where  it  was  held  by  a  broad 
black  band  of  elastic,  and  I  saw  her  charming  head, 
with  its  wreath  of  plaits,  defined  against  the  golden 
cloud  that  hung  above  the  thin  stretch  of  pines.  At 
my  back  the  full  sunrise  broke,  and  when  she  turned 
toward  me,  her  gaze  was  dazzled  for  a  moment  by  the 
flood  of  light. 

''Let  me  have  a  look,'^  I  said,  as  I  reached  her,  ''is 
the  mare  hurt?" 

''  She  went  lame  a  few  minutes  ago.  There's  a  stone 
in  her  foot,  but  I  can't  get  it  out." 

''Perhaps  I  can." 


158  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

Rising  from  her  knees,  she  yielded  me  her  place, 
and  then  stood  looking  down  on  me  while  I  removed 
the  stone. 

'^She'll  still  limp,  I  fear,  it  was  a  bad  one,'^  I  said  as 
I  finished. 

Without  replying,  she  turned  from  me  and  ran  a  few 
steps  along  the  road,  calling,  ^Tome,  Dolly,'^  in  a  caress- 
ing voice.  The  mare  followed  with  difficulty,  flinch- 
ing as  she  put  her  sore  foot  to  the  ground. 

^^See  how  it  hurts  her,"  she  said,  coming  back  to  me. 
'^ITl  have  to  lead  her  slowly  —  there's  no  other  way.'' 

''Why  not  ride  at  a  walk?" 

She  shook  her  head.  ''My  feet  are  better  than  a 
lame  horse.     It's  not  more  than  two  miles  anyway." 

"And  you  danced  all  night?" 

I  hung  the  reins  over  my  arm  and  we  turned  together, 
facing  the  sunrise. 

"Yes,  but  the  way  to  rest  is  to  run  out-of-doors. 
Are  you  often  up  with  the  dawn,  too?" 

"No,  but  I  couldn't  sleep.  The  music  got  into  my 
head." 

"Into  mine  also.  But  I  often  take  a  canter  at  sun- 
rise.    It  is  my  hour." 

"And  this  is  your  road?" 

"Not  always.  I  go  different  ways.  This  one  I  call 
the  road-to-what-might-have-been  because  it  turns  off 
just  as  it  reaches  a  glorious  view\" 

"Then  don't  let's  travel  it.  I'd  rather  go  with  you 
on  the  road-to-what-is-to-be." 

She  looked  at  me  steadily  for  a  minute  with  arching 
brows.  "I  wonder  why  they  say  of  you  that  you 
have  no  social  amenities?"  she  observed  mockingly. 


I   MEET   WITH   AN   ADVENTURE  159 

''I  haven't.  That  isn't  an  amenity,  it  is  a  fact.  To 
save  my  life  I  couldn't  find  a  blessed  thing  to  say  last 
night  to  the  little  lady  in  pink  tarlatan  whose  dress  I 
tore." 

^'Poor  Bessy!"  she  laughed  softly,  ^'she  vows  she'll 
never  waltz  with  you  again." 

*^ She's  perfectly  safe  to  vow  it." 

'^Oh,  yes,  I  remember,  and  I  hope  you  won't  dance 
any  more.  Do  you  know,  I  like  you  better  out-of- 
doors." 

^^Out-of-doors?" 

^'Well,  the  broomsedge  is  becoming  to  you.  It 
seems  your  natural  background  somehow.  Now  it 
makes  George  Bolingbroke  look  frivolous." 

^'His  natural  background  is  the  ballroom,  and  I'm 
not  sure  he  hasn't  the  best  of  it.  I  can't  live  always  in 
the  broomsedge." 

'^Oh,  it  isn't  only  the  broomsedge,  though  that  goes 
admirably  with  your  hair  —  it's  the  bigness,  the  space, 
the  simplicity.  You  take  up  too  much  room  among 
lamps  and  palms,  you  trip  on  a  waxed  floor,  and 
down  goes  poor  Bessy.  But  out  here  you  are  natural 
and  at  home.  The  sky  sets  off  your  head  —  and  it's 
really  very  fine  if  you  only  knew  it.  Out  here,  with 
me,  you  are  in  your  native  element." 

''Is  that  because  you  are  my  native  element?  Can 
you  imagine  poor  Bessy  fitting  into  the  picture?" 

''To  tell  the  truth  I  can't  imagine  poor  Bessy  fitting 
you  at  all.     Her  native  element  is  pink  tarlatan." 

"And  yours?"  I  demanded. 

"That  you  must  find  out  for  yourself."  A  smile 
played  on  her  face  like  an  edge  of  light. 


160  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^The  sunrise/'  I  answered. 

^^Like  you,  I  am  sorry  that  I  can't  be  always  in  my 
proper  setting/'  she  replied. 

^^You  are  always.     The  sunrise  never  leaves  you." 

Her  brows  arched  merrily,  and  I  saw  the  tiny  scar 
I  had  remembered  from  childhood  catch  up  the  corner 
of  her  mouth  with  its  provoking  and  irresistible  trick 
of  expression. 

^^Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  learned  these 
gallantries  in  Johnson's  Dictionary?"  she  enquired, 
^^or  have  you  taken  other  lessons  from  the  General 
besides  those  in  speculations?" 

I  had  got  out  of  my  starched  shirt  and  my  evening 
clothes,  and  the  timidity  of  the  ballroom  had  no  part 
in  me  under  the  open  sky.  ^^  Johnson's  Dictionary 
wasn't  my  only  teacher,"  I  retorted,  ^^nor  was  the 
General.  At  ten  years  of  age  I  could  recite  the  prosi- 
est speeches  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison." 

^^Ah,  that  explains  it.  Well,  I'm  glad  anyway  you 
didn't  learn  it  from  the  General.  He  broke  poor  Aunt 
Matoaca's  heart,  you  know." 

^'Then  I  hope  he  managed  to  break  his  own  at  the 
same  time." 

^^He  didn't.  I  don't  believe  he  had  a  big  enough 
one  to  break.  Oh,  yes,  I've  always  detested  your 
great  man,  the  General.  They  were  engaged  to  be 
married,  you  have  heard,  I  suppose,  and  three  weeks 
before  the  wedding  she  found  out  some  dreadful  things 
about  his  life  —  and  she  behaved  then,  as  Dr.  The- 
ophilus  used  to  say,  ^like  a  gentleman  of  honour.'  He 
—  he  ought  to  have  married  another  woman,  but  even 
after  Aunt  Matoaca  gave  him  up,  he  refused  to  do  it  — - 


I    MEET   WITH    AN    ADVENTURE  161 

and  this  was  what  she  never  got  over.  If  he  had  be- 
haved as  dishonourably  as  that  in  business,  no  man 
would  have  spoken  to  him,  she  said  —  and  can  you 
believe  it  ?  —  she  declined  to  speak  to  him  for  twenty 
years,  though  she  was  desperately  in  love  with  him  all 
the  time.  She  only  began  again  when  he  got  old  and 
gouty  and  humbled  himself  to  her.  In  my  heart  of 
hearts  I  can't  help  disliking  him  in  spite  of  all  his  suc- 
cess, but  I  really  believe  that  he  has  never  in  his  life 
cared  for  any  woman  except  Aunt  Matoaca.  It's  be- 
cause she's  so  perfectly  honourable,  I  think  —  but,  of 
course,  it  is  her  terrible  experience  that  has  made  her 
so  —  so  extreme  in  her  views." 

'^What  are  her  views?" 

^^She  calls  them  principles  —  but  Aunt  Mitty  says, 
and  I  suppose  she's  right,  that  it  would  have  been  more 
ladylike  to  have  borne  her  wrongs  in  silence  instead  of 
shrieking  them  aloud.  For  my  part  I  think  that,  how- 
ever loud  she  shrieked,  she  couldn't  shriek  as  loud  as 
the  General  has  acted." 

'^I  hope  she  isn't  still  in  love  with  him?" 

Her  clear  rippling  laugh  —  the  laugh  of  a  free  spirit 
—  fluted  over  the  broomsedge.  ^^Can  you  imagine  it? 
One  might  quite  as  well  be  in  love  "^"ith  one's  Thanks- 
gi\'ing  turkey.  No,  she  isn't  in  love  with  him  now, 
but  she's  in  love  with  the  idea  that  she  used  to  be,  and 
that's  almost  as  bad.  I  know  it's  her  own  past  that 
makes  her  think  all  the  time  about  the  wrongs  of 
vromen.  She  wants  to  have  them  vote,  and  make  the 
laws,  and  have  a  voice  in  the  government.     Do  you?" 

''I  never  thought  about  it,  but  I'm  pretty  sure  I 
shouldn't  like  my  wife  to  go  to  the  polls,"  I  answered. 


162  THE    ROMA^'CE    OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

Again  she  laughed.  ^^It's  funny,  isn't  it?  —  that 
when  you  ask  a  man  anything  about  women,  he  always 
begins  to  talk  about  his  wife,  even  when  he  hasn't  got 


one 


That's  because  he's  always  hoping  to  have  one,  1 
suppose." 

'^Do  you  want  one  very  badly?"  she  taunted. 

'^ Dreadfully  —  the  one  I  want." 

'^A  real  dream  lady  in  pink  tarlatan?" 

"No,  a  living  lady  in  a  riding  habit." 

If  I  had  thought  to  embarrass  her  by  this  flight  of 
gallantry,  my  hope  was  fruitless,  for  the  arrow,  splin- 
tered by  her  smile,  fell  harmlessly  to  the  dust  of  the 
road. 

''An  Amazon  seems  hardly  the  appropriate  mate  to 
Sir  Charles  Grandison,"  she  retorted. 

"Just  now  it  was  the  General  that  I  resembled." 

'^Oh,  you  out-generaled  the  General  a  mile  back. 
Even  he  didn't  attempt  to  break  the  heart  of  Aunt 
Matoaca  at  their  second  meeting." 

The  candid  merriment  in  her  face  had  put  me  wholly 
at  ease,  —  I  who  had  stood  tongue-tied  and  blushing 
before  the  simpers  of  poor  Bessy.  Dare  as  I  might, 
I  could  bring  no  shadow  of  self-consciousness,  no  armour 
of  sex,  into  her  sparkling  eyes. 

"And  have  I  tried  to  break  yours?"  I  asked  bluntly. 

"Have  you?  You  know  best.  I  am  not  familiar 
with  Grandisonian  tactics." 

"I  don't  believe  there's  a  man  alive  who  could  break 
your  heart,"  I  said. 

With  her  arm  on  the  neck  of  the  sorrel  mare,  she  gave 
me  back  my  glance,  straight  and  full,  like  a  gallant  boy. 


I   MEET   V/ITH   AN   ADVENTURE  163 

'' Nothing,"  she  remarked  blithely,  ^' short  of  a  ham- 
mer could  do  it." 

We  laughed  together,  and  the  laughter  brought  us 
into  an  intimacy  which  to  me,  at  least,  was  dangerously 
sweet.     My  head  whirled  suddenly. 

''You  asked  me  last  night  about  the  one  thing  I'd 
wanted  most  all  my  life,"  I  said. 

*'The  thing  that  made  you  learn  Johnson's  Diction- 
ary by  heart?"  she  asked. 

"Only  to  the  end  of  the  c's.  Don't  credit  me,  please, 
with  the  whole  alphabet." 

''The  thing,  then, "  she  corrected  herself,  "  that  made 
you  learn  the  a,  b,  c's  of  Johnson's  Dictionary  by  heart?" 

"If  you  wish  it  I  will  tell  you  what  it  was." 

For  the  first  time  her  look  wavered.  "Is  it  very 
long?  Here  is  Franklin  Street,  and  in  a  little  while 
we  shall  be  at  home." 

"  It  is  not  long  —  it  is  very  short.  It  is  a  single  word 
of  three  letters." 

"I  thought  you  said  it  had  covered  every  hour  of 
your  life  ?  " 

"Every  hour  of  my  life  has  been  covered  by  a  word 
of  three  letters." 

"What  an  elastic  word!" 

"It  is,  for  it  has  covered  everything  at  which  I 
looked  —  both  the  earth  and  the  sky." 

"And  the  General  and  the  Great  South  Midland  and 
Atlantic  Railroad?" 

"Without  that  word  the  General  and  the  railroad 
would  have  been  nothing." 

"How  very  much  obliged  to  it  the  poor  General  must 
be!" 


164  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^Will  you  hear  it?''  I  asked,  for  when  I  was  once 
started  to  the  goal  there  was  no  turning  me  by  laughter. 

She  raised  her  eyes,  which  had  been  lowered,  and 
looked  at  me  long  and  deeply  —  so  long  and  deeply 
that  it  seemed  as  if  she  were  seeking  something  within 
myself  of  which  even  I  was  unconscious. 

'^Will  you  hear  it?''  I  asked  again. 

Her  gaze  was  still  on  mine.  ^'What  is  the  word?" 
she  asked,  almost  in  a  whisper. 

At  the  instant  I  felt  that  I  staked  my  whole  future, 
and  yet  that  it  was  no  longer  in  my  power  to  hesitate 
or  to  draw  back.     ^^The  word  is  —  you,"  I  replied. 

Her  hand  dropped  from  the  mare's  neck,  where  it 
had  almost  touched  mine,  and  I  watched  her  mouth 
grow  tremulous  until  the  red  of  it  showed  in  a  violent 
contrast  to  the  clear  pallor  of  her  face.  Then  she 
turned  her  head  away  from  me  toward  the  sun,  and 
thoughtful  and  in  silence,  we  passed  down  Franklin 
Street  to  the  old  grey  house. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

IN  WHICH  I  RUN  AGAINST  TRADITIONS 

When  we  had  delivered  the  mare  to  the  coloured 
groom  waiting  on  the  sidewalk,  she  turned  to  me  for 
the  first  time  since  I  had  utt-ered  my  daring  word. 

''You  must  come  in  to  breakfast  with  us,"  she  said^ 
with  a  friendly  and  careless  smile,  ''Aunt  Mitty  wiU 
be  disappointed  if  I  return  ^dthout  what  she  calls 
'a  cavalier/ '^ 

The  doubt  occurred  to  me  if  Miss  Mitty  would  con- 
sider me  entitled  to  so  felicitous  a  phrase,  but  smother- 
ing it  the  next  minute  as  best  I  could,  I  followed  Sally, 
not  without  trepidation,  up  the  short  flight  of  steps, 
and  into  the  ^ide  hall,  where  the  air  was  heavy  with 
the  perfume  of  fading  roses.  Great  silver  bowls  of 
them  drooped  now,  -^dth  blighted  heads,  amid  the 
withered  smilax,  and  the  floor  was  strewn  thickly 
with  petals,  as  if  a  strong  wind  had  blown  down  the 
staircase.  From  the  dining  room  came  a  delicious 
aroma  of  coffee,  and  as  we  crossed  the  threshold,  I 
saw  that  the  two  ladies,  in  their  lace  morning  caps, 
were  already  seated  at  the  round  mahogany  table. 
From  behind  the  tall  old  silver  service,  the  grave  oval 
face  of  Miss  Mitty  cast  on  me,  as  I  entered,  a  look  in 
which  a  faint  wonder  was  mingled  with  a  pleasant 
hereditary  habit  of  welcome.  A  cover  was  already 
laid  for  the  chance  comer,  and  as  I  took  possession  of 

165 


166  THE   EOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

it,  in  response  to  her  invitation,  I  felt  again  that 
terrible  shyness  —  that  burning  physical  embarrass- 
ment of  the  plain  man  in  unfamiliar  surroundings. 
So  had  I  felt  on  the  morning  when  I  had  stood  in  the 
kitchen,  with  my  basket  on  my  arm,  and  declined  the 
plum  cake  for  which  my  mouth  watered.  In  the  road 
with  Sally  I  had  appeared  to  share,  as  she  had  said, 
something  of  the  dignity  of  the  broomsedge  and  the 
open  sky;  here  opposite  to  Miss  Matoaca,  with  the 
rich  mahogany  table  and  the  vase  of  chrysanthemums 
between  us,  I  seemed  ridiculously  out  of  proportion 
to  the  surroundings  amid  which  I  sat,  speechless  and 
awkward.  Was  it  possible  that  any  woman  could  look 
beneath  that  mountain  of  shyness,  and  discern  a  self- 
confidence  in  large  matters  that  would  some  day  make 
a  greater  man  than  the  General  ? 

"Cream  and  sugar?"  enquired  Miss  Mitty,  in  a  tone 
from  which  I  knew  she  had  striven  to  banish  the  rec- 
ognition that  she  addressed  a  social  inferior.  Her 
pleasant  smile  seemed  etched  about  her  mouth,  over 
the  expression  of  faint  wonder  which  persisted  beneath. 
I  felt  that  her  racial  breeding,  like  Miss  Matoaca^s, 
was  battling  against  her  instinctive  aversion,  and  at 
the  same  moment  I  knew  that  I  ought  to  have  declined 
the  invitation  Sally  had  given.  A  sense  of  outrage  — 
of  resentment  —  swelled  hot  and  strong  in  my  heart. 
What  was  this  social  barrier  —  this  aristocratic  stand- 
ard that  could  accept  the  General  and  reject  such  men 
as  I?  If  it  had  sprung  back,  strong  and  flexible  as  a 
steel  wire,  before  the  man,  would  it  still  present  its 
irresistible  strength  against  the  power  of  money? 
In  that  instant  I  resolved  that  if  wealth  alone  could 


m  WHICH   I   RUN   AGAINST   TRADITIONS        167 

triumph  over  it,  wealth  should  become  the  weapon  of 
my  attack.  Then  my  gaze  met  Sally's  over  the 
chrysanthemums,  and  the  thought  in  my  brain  shrank 
back  suddenly  abashed. 

'^  Dolly  got  a  stone  in  her  foot,  poor  dear,"  she  re- 
marked to  her  aunts,  ^^and  Ben  Starr  got  it  out.  She 
limped  all  the  way  home." 

At  her  playful  use  of  my  name,  a  glance  flashed  from 
Miss  Mitty  to  Miss  Matoaca  and  back  again  across  the 
high  silver  service. 

''Then  we  are  very  grateful  to  Mr.  Starr,"  replied 
Miss  Mitty  in  a  prim  voice.  ''Sister  Matoaca  and  I 
were  just  agreeing  that  you  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to 
ride  alone  outside  the  city." 

"Perhaps  we  can  arrange  with  Ben  to  go  walking 
along  the  same  road,"  responded  Sally  provokingly, 
"and  I  shouldn't  be  in  need  of  a  groom." 

For  the  first  time  I  raised  my  eyes.  "I'll  walk  any- 
where except  along  the  road-to-what-might-have-been," 
I  said,  and  my  voice  was  quite  steady. 

Her  glance  dropped  to  her  plate.  Then  she  looked 
across  the  vase  of  chrysanthemums  into  Miss  Mitty 's 
face. 

"Ben  and  I  used  to  play  together,  Aunt  Mitty," 
she  said,  offering  the  information  as  if  it  were  the  most 
pleasant  fact  in  the  world,  "when  I  lived  on  Church 
Hill." 

A  flush  rose  to  Miss  Mitty's  cheeks,  and  passed  the 
next  instant,  as  if  by  a  wave  of  sympathy,  into  Miss 
Matoaca's. 

"I  hoped,  Sally,  that  you  had  forgotten  that  part 
of  your  life,"  observed  the  elder  lady  stiffly. 


168  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^How  can  I  forget  it;  Aunt  Mitty?  I  was  very 
happy  over  there." 

^'And  are  you  not  happy  here^  dear?^'  asked  Miss 
Matoaca,  hurt  by  the  words,  and  bending  over,  she 
smelt  a  spray  of  lilies-of-the-valley  that  had  lain  beside 
her  plate. 

^^Of  course  I  am,  Aunt  Matoaca,  but  one  doesn't 
forget.  I  met  Ben  first  when  I  was  six  years  old. 
Mamma  and  I  stopped  at  his  house  in  a  storm  one  night 
on  our  way  over  to  grandmama's.  We  were  soaking  wet, 
and  they  were  very  kind  and  dried  us  and  gave  us  hot 
things  to  drink,  and  his  mother  wrapped  me  up  in  a 
shawl  and  sent  me  here  with  mamma.  I  shall  always 
remember  how  good  they  were,  and  how  he  broke  off 
a  red  geranium  from  his  mother's  plant  and  gave  it  to 
me." 

As  she  told  her  story.  Miss  Mitty  watched  her  atten- 
tively, the  expression  of  faint  wonder  in  her  eyes  and  her 
narrow  eyebrows,  and  her  pleasant,  rather  pained 
smile  etched  delicately  about  her  fine,  thin  lips.  Her 
long,  oval  face,  suffused  now  by  an  unusual  colour, 
rose  above  the  quaint  old  coffee  urn,  on  which  the 
Fairfax  crest,  belonging  to  her  mother's  family,  was 
engraved.  If  any  passion  could  have  been  supposed 
to  rock  that  flat,  virgin  bosom,  I  should  have  said 
that  it  was  moved  by  a  passion  of  wounded  pride. 

^^Is  your  coffee  right,  Mr.  Starr?  Have  you  cream 
enough?"  she  enquired  politely.  ^^Selim,  give  Mr. 
Starr  a  partridge." 

My  coffee  was  right,  and  I  declined  the  bird,  which 
would  have  stuck  in  my  throat.  The  united  pride  of 
the  Blands  and  the  Fairfaxes,  I  told  myself,  could  not 


IN   WHICH   I   RUN   AGAINST    TRADITIONS        169 

equal  that  possessed  by  a  single  obscure  son  of  a  stone- 
cutter. 

'^If  you  are  as  hungry  as  I  am,  you  are  famished/' 
observed  Sally,  with  a  gallant  effort  to  make  a  sem- 
blance of  gayety  sport  on  a  frozen  atmosphere.  ''Aunt 
Matoaca,  have  pity  and  give  me  a  muffin. '^ 

Muffins  were  passed  by  Miss  Matoaca;  waifles  were 
presented  immediately  by  Selim. 

"Do  take  a  hot  one,''  urged  Miss  Matoaca  anxiously, 
'•yours  is  quite  cold.'' 

I  took  a  hot  one,  and  after  placing  it  on  the  small 
white  and  gold  plate,  swore  desperately  to  myself 
that  I  would  not  eat  a  mouthful  in  that  house  until 
I  could  eat  there  as  an  equal.  The  faint  wonder 
beneath  the  pained  fixed  smile  on  Miss  Mitty's  face 
stabbed  me  like  a  knife.  All  her  anxious  hospitality,  all 
her  offers  of  cream  and  partridges,  could  not  for  a 
single  minute  efface  it.  Turning  my  head  I  discerned 
the  same  expression,  still  fainter,  still  gentler,  reflected 
on  Miss  Matoaca's  lips  —  as  if  some  subtle  bond  of 
sympathy  between  them  were  asking  always,  beneath 
the  hereditary  courtesy:  '*Can  this  be  possible?  Are 
we,  whose  mother  was  a  Fairfax,  whose  father  was 
a  Bland,  sitting  at  our  own  table  vath  a  man  who  is 
not  a  gentleman  by  birth  ?  —  who  has  even  brought 
a  market  basket  to  our  kitchen  door?  What  has  be- 
come of  the  established  order  if  such  a  thing  as  this 
can  happen  to  two  unprotected  Virginia  ladies?" 

And  it  was  quite  characteristic  of  their  race,  of  their 
class,  that  the  greater  the  wonder  grew  in  their  gentle 
minds,  the  more  sedulously  they  plied  me  with  coffee 
and  partridges  and  preserves  —  that  the  more  their 


170  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

souls  abhorred  me,  the  more  lavish  became  their 
hands.  Divided  as  they  were  by  their  principles, 
something  stronger  than  a  principle  now  held  the  sis- 
ters together,  and  this  was  a  passionate  belief  in  the 
integrity  of  their  race. 

Again  Selim  handed  the  waffles  in  a  frozen  silence, 
and  again  Sally  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  pro- 
duce an  appearance  of  animation. 

^^Are  you  going  to  market,  Aunt  Matoaca?"  she 
asked,  ^^and  will  you  remember  to  buy  seed  for  my 
canary?" 

The  flush  in  Miss  Matoaca's  cheek  this  time,  I  could 
not  explain. 

'^Sister  Mitty  will  go,"  she  replied,  in  confusion, 
'^I  — I  have  another  engagement." 

'^She  alludes  to  a  meeting  of  one  of  her  boards," 
observed  Miss  Mitty,  and  turning  to  me  she  added, 
with  what  I  felt  to  be  an  unfair  thrust  at  the  shrinking 
bosom  of  Miss  Matoaca,  ^^My  sister  is  a  great  reader, 
Mr.  Starr,  and  she  has  drawn  many  of  her  opinions  out 
of  books  instead  of  from  life." 

I  looked  up,  my  eyes  met  Miss  Matoaca's,  and  I 
remembered  her  love  story. 

'^We  all  do  that,  I  suppose,"  I  answered.  ^^Even 
when  we  get  them  from  life,  haven't  most  of  them  had 
their  beginning  in  books?" 

''I  am  not  a  great  reader  myself,"  remarked  Miss 
Mitty,  a  trifle  primly.  ^^My  father  used  to  say  that 
when  a  lady  had  read  a  chapter  of  her  Bible  in  the 
morning,  and  consulted  her  cook-book,  she  had  done 
as  much  literary  work  as  was  good  for  her.  Too  in- 
timate an  acquaintance  with  books,  he  always  said, 


IN   WHICH   I    RUN   AGAINST   TRADITIONS        171 

was  apt  to  unsettle  the  views,  and  the  best  judgment 
a  woman  can  have,  I  am  sure,  is  the  opinion  of  the 
gentlemen  of  her  family." 

''That  may  be  true/'  I  admitted,  and  my  self- 
possession  returned  to  me,  until  a  certain  masculine 
assurance  sounded  in  my  voice,  ''but  I'm  quite  sure 
I  shouldn't  Hke  anybody  else's  opinion  to  decide  mine." 

"You  are  a  man,"  rejoined  Miss  Mitty,  and  I  felt 
that  she  had  not  been  able  to  bring  her  truthful  lips 
to  utter  the  word  "gentleman."  "It  is  natural  that 
you  should  have  independent  ideas,  but,  as  far  as  I 
am  concerned,  I  am  perfectly  content  to  think  as  my 
grandmother  and  my  great-grandmother  have  thought 
before  me.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me  almost  disrespect- 
ful to  differ  from  them." 

"And  it  was  dear  great-grandmama,"  laughed 
Sally,  "who  when  the  doctor  once  enquired  if  her  tooth 
ached,  turned  to  great-grandpapa  and  asked,  ^  Does 
it  ache,  Bolivar?'  " 

She  had  tossed  her  riding  hat  aside,  and  a  single 
loosened  wave  of  her  hair  had  fallen  low  on  her  fore- 
head above  her  arched  black  eyebrows.  Beneath  it 
her  eyes,  very  wide  and  bright,  held  a  puzzled  yet 
resolute  look,  as  if  they  were  fixed  upon  an  obstacle 
which  frightened  her,  and  which  she  was  determined 
to  overcome. 

"You  are  speaking  of  my  grandmama,  Sally," 
observed  Miss  Mitty,  and  I  could  see  that  the  levity 
of  the  girl  had  wounded  her. 

"I'm  sorry,  dear  Aunt  Mitty,  she  was  my  great-grand- 
mama,  too,  but  that  doesn't  keep  me  from  thinking 
her  a  very  silly  person." 


172  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^A  silly  person?  Your  own  great-grandmama, 
Sally  !'^  Her  mind,  long  and  narrow,  like  her  face, 
had  never  diverged,  I  felt,  from  the  straight  line  of 
descent. 

"My  sister  and  I  unfortunately  do  not  agree  in  our 
principles,  Mr.  Starr, ^^  said  Miss  Matoaca,  breaking 
her  strained  silence  suddenly  in  a  high  voice,  and  with 
an  energy  that  left  tremors  in  her  thin,  delicate  figure. 
''Indeed,  I  believe  that  I  hold  views  which  are  op- 
posed generally  by  Virginia  ladies  —  but  I  feel  it  to 
be  a  point  of  honour  that  I  should  let  them  be  known. '^ 
She  paused  breathlessly,  having  delivered  herself  of 
the  heresy  that  worked  in  her  bosom,  and  a  moment 
later  she  sat  trembling  from  head  to  foot  with  her  eyes 
on  her  plate.  Poor  little  gallant  lady,  I  thought,  did 
she  remember  the  time  when  at  the  call  of  that  same 
word  ''honour,"  she  had  thrown  away,  not  only  her 
peace,  but  her  happiness? 

"Whatever  your  opinions  may  be,  Miss  Matoaca, 
I  respect  your  honest  and  loyal  support  of  them," 
I  said. 

The  embarrassment  that  had  overwhelmed  me  five 
minutes  before  had  vanished  utterly.  At  the  first 
chance  to  declare  myself  —  to  contend,  not  merely 
with  a  manner,  but  with  a  situation,  I  felt  the  full 
strength  of  my  manhood.  The  General  himself  could 
not  have  uttered  his  piquant  pleasantries  in  a  blither 
tone  than  I  did  my  impulsive  defence  of  the  right  of 
private  judgment.  Miss  Mitty  raised  her  eyes  to  mine, 
and  Miss  Matoaca  did  likewise.  Over  me  their  looks 
clashed,  and  I  saw  at  once  that  it  was  the  relentless 
warfare  between  individual  temperament  and   racial 


IN   WHICH   I   RUN   AGAINST    TRADITIONS        173 

instinct.  In  spite  of  the  obscurity  of  my  birth,  I 
knew  that  in  Miss  Matoaca,  at  that  instant,  I  had  won 
a  friend. 

^'Surely  Aunt  Matoaca  is  right  to  express  what  she 
thinks,"  said  Sally,  loyally  following  my  lead. 

^^No  woman  of  our  family  has  ever  thought  such 
things,  Sally,  or  has  ever  felt  called  upon  to  express 
her  views  in  the  presence  of  men.'^ 

^^  Well,  I  suppose,  some  woman  has  got  to  begin  some 
day,  and  it  may  as  well  be  Aunt  Matoaca.'' 

''There  is  no  reason  why  any  woman  should  begin. 
Your  great-grandmama  did  not." 

''But  my  great-grandmama  couldn't  tell  when  her 
tooth  ached,  and  you  can,  I've  heard  you  do  it.  It 
was  very  disrespectful  of  you,  dear  Auntie." 

"If  you  cannot  be  serious,  Sally,  I  refuse  to  discuss 
the  subject." 

"But  how  can  anybody  be  serious,  Aunt  Mitty, 
about  a  person  who  didn't  know  when  her  own  tooth 
ached?" 

"Dear  sister,"  remarked  Miss  Matoaca,  in  a  voice  of 
gentle  obstinacy,  "I  do  not  wish  to  be  the  cause  of  a  dis- 
agreement between  Sally  and  yourself.  Any  question 
that  was  not  one  of  principle  I  should  gladly  give  up. 
I  know  you  are  not  much  of  a  reader,  but  if  you  would 
only  glance  at  an  article  in  the  last  Fortnightly  Review 
on  the  Emancipation  of  Women  — " 

"I  should  have  thought,  sister  Matoaca,  that  Dr. 
Peterson's  last  sermon  in  St.  Paul's  on  the  feminine 
sphere  would  have  been  a  far  safer  guide  for  you.  His 
text,  Mr.  Starr,"  she  added,  turning  to  me,  "was,  'She 
looketh  weU  to  the  ways  of  her  household.'  " 


174  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^At  least  you  can't  accuse  Aunt  Matoaca  of  neglect- 
ing the  ways  of  her  household/'  said  Sally,  merrily, 
^^even  the  General  rises  up  after  dinner  and  praises 
her  mince  pies.     Do  you  like  mince  pies,  Ben?" 

I  replied  that  I  was  sure  that  I  should  like  Miss 
Matoaca's,  for  I  had  heard  them  lauded  by  General 
Bolingbroke ;  at  which  the  poor  lady  blushed  until 
her  cheeks  looked  like  Tsithered  rose  leaves.  She 
was  one  of  those  unhappy  women,  I  had  learned  during 
breakfast,  who  suffered  from  a  greater  mental  activity 
than  was  usually  allotted  to  the  females  of  their  gen- 
eration. Behind  that  long  and  narrow  face,  -^dth  its 
pencilled  eyebrows,  its  fine,  straight  nose,  and  rest- 
lessly shining  eyes,  what  battles  of  conviction  against 
tradition  must  have  waged.  Was  the  final  triumph 
of  intellect  due,  in  reality,  to  the  accident  of  an  un- 
happy love?  Had  the  General's  frailties  driven  this 
shy  little  lady,  vrith  her  devotion  to  law  and  order, 
and  her  excellent  mince  pies,  into  a  martyr  for  the 
rights  of  sex? 

'^I  am  told  that  Mrs.  Clay  prides  herself  upon  her 
pies,"  she  remarked.  ^'I  have  never  eaten  them, 
but  Dr.  Theophilus  tells  me  that  he  prefers  mine  be- 
cause I  use  less  suet." 

''I  am  sure  nobody's  could  compare  ^dth  yours, 
sister  Matoaca,"  observed  Miss  Mitty  in  an  affable 
tone,  ^^and  I  happen  to  know  that  Mrs.  Clay  resorts 
to  Mrs.  Camberwell's  cook-book.  We  prefer  Mrs. 
Randolph's,"  she  added,  turning  to  me. 

''Well,  we'll  ask  Ben  to  dinner  some  day,  and  he 
may  judge,"   said  Sally. 

Instantly  I  felt  that  her  words  were  a  challenge, 


IN   WHICH   I   RUN    AGAINST   TRADITIONS        175 

and  the  shining  mahogany  table,  with  its  delicate 
lace  mats,  its  silver  and  its  chrysanthemums,  became 
a  battle-field  for  opposing  spirits.  I  saw  Miss  Mitty 
stiffen  and  the  corners  of  her  mouth  grow  rigid  under 
her  pleasant,  fixed  smile. 

^^Will  you  have  some  marmalade,  Mr.  Starr  ?'^ 
she  asked,  and  I  knew  that  with  the  phrase,  she  had 
flung  down  her  gauntlet  on  the  table.  Her  very 
politeness  veiled  a  purpose,  not  of  iron,  but  finely 
tempered  and  resistless  as  a  blade.  Had  she  said  to 
me:  '^Sir,  you  are  an  upstart,  and  I,  sitting  quietly 
at  the  same  table  with  you,  and  inviting  you  to  eat 
of  the  same  dish  of  marmalade,  am  a  descendant  of 
the  Blands  and  the  Fairfaxes,'^  —  her  words  would 
have  stabbed  me  less  deeply  than  did  the  pathetic 
^^Can  this  be  possible?  '^  of  her  smiling  features. 

A  canary,  swinging  in  a  gilt  cage  between  the  cur- 
tains at  the  window,  broke  suddenly  into  a  jubilant 
fluting;  and  rising  from  the  table,  we  stood  for  a 
minute,  as  if  petrified,  with  our  eyes  on  the  bird,  and 
on  the  box  of  blossoming  sweet  alyssum  upon  the  sill. 
A  little  later,  when  I  left  with  the  plea  that  the  General 
expected  me  at  nine  o'clock,  the  two  elder  ladies  gave 
me  their  small,  transparent  hands,  while  their  polite 
farewell  sounded  as  final  as  if  it  had  been  uttered  on  the 
edge  of  an  open  grave.  Only  Sally,  smihng  up  at  me, 
with  that  puzzled  yet  determined  look  still  in  her  eyes, 
said  gayly,  ^'When  you  go  walking  at  sunrise,  Ben, 
choose  the  road-to-what-might-have-been !" 


CHAPTER   XIV 

IN  WHICH   I   TEST   MY   STRENGTH 

Her  words  rang  in  my  ears  while  I  went  along  the 
crooked  pavement  under  the  burnished  sycamore. 
As  I  met  the  General  at  the  corner  I  was  still  hearing 
them,  and  they  prompted  the  speech  that  burst  im- 
pulsively from  my  lips. 

^^ General,  I've  got  to  get  rich  quickly,  and  I'm 
finding  a  way." 

^^  You'd  better  make  sure  first  that  your  royal  road 
doesn't  end  in  a  ditch." 

^'I  was  talking  to  a  man  from  West  Virginia  yester- 
day about  buying  out  the  National  Oil  Company,  and 
I  dreamed  of  it  all  night.  He  wants  me  to  go  in  with 
him,  and  start  a  refining  plant.  If  I  can  get  special 
privileges  and  rebates  from  the  railroads  to  give  us 
advantages,  we  may  make  a  big  business  of  it." 

^^You  may  and  you  mayn't.     Who's  your  man?" 

^^Sam  Brackett.     Bob's  brother,  you  know." 

''A  mighty  good  fellow,  and  shrewd,  too.  But  I'd 
think  it  over  carefully,  if  I  were  you." 

I  did  think  it  over,  and  the  result  of  my  thoughts 
was,  as  I  told  the  General  a  fortnight  later,  the  pur- 
chase of  a  refining  plant  near  Clarksburg,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  a  lively  war  with  the  competitors  in  the 
business. 

i7e 


IX    WHICH    I    TEST    MY    STRENGTH  177 

''We're  going  to  sweep  the  South,  General,  with  the 
help  of  the  railroad,''  I  said. 

The  great  man,  with  his  gouty  foot  in  a  felt  slipper, 
sat  gazing  meditatively  over  the  words  of  a  telegram, 
which  had  come  on  his  private  wire. 

''Midland  stock  is  selling  at  160,"  he  said.  "It's 
a  big  railroad,  my  boy,  and  I've  made  it." 

Even  to-day,  with  the  living  presence  of  Sally  still 
in  my  eyes,  I  was  filled  again  with  the  old  unap- 
peasable desire  for  the  great  railroad.  The  woman 
and  the  road  v\'ere  distinct  and  yet  blended  in  my 
thoughts. 

At  dinner-time,  when  the  General  hobbled  to  his  buggy 
on  my  arm,  I  made  again  the  remark  I  had  blurted  out 
so  inopportunely. 

"General,  I've  been  to  West  Virginia  and  started 
the  plant,  and  we're  going  to  give  Hail  Columbia  to 
our  competitors." 

He  looked  at  me  attentively,  and  a  sly  twinkle 
appeared  in  his  little  w^atery  grey  eyes,  which  were 
sunk  deep  in  the  bluish  and  swoUen  sockets. 

''Do  you  feel  yourself  getting  big,  Ben?"  he  en- 
quired, with  a  chuckle. 

I  shook  my  head.  "Xot  yet,  but  it's  a  fair  risk  and 
a  good  chance  to  make  a  big  business." 

"Well,  you're  right,  I  suppose,  and  if  you  ain't 
you'll  find  out  before  long.  What's  luck,  after  all, 
but  the  thing  that  enables  a  man  to  see  a  long  way 
ahead?" 

He  settled  himself  under  his  fur  rug,  flicked  the  reins 
over  the  old  grey  horse,  and  we  drove  slowly  up  Main 
Street  behind  a  street  car. 


178  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

^'I  don't  know  about  luck,  General,  but  I'm  going  to 
win  out  if  hard  pushing  can  do  it." 

^^It  can  do  'most  anything  if  you  only  push  hard 
enough.  But  you  talk  as  if  you  were  in  love,  Ben. 
I've  said  the  same  thing  a  hundred  times  in  my  day, 
I  reckon." 

I  blushed  furiously,  and  then  turning  my  face  from 
him,  stared  at  a  group  of  children  upon  the  sidewalk. 

^^Whom  could  I  marry,  General?"  I  asked.  ^^You 
know  well  enough  that  a  woman  in  your  class  wouldn't 
marry  a  man  in  mine  —  unless — " 

'^Unless  she  were  over  head  and  heels  in  love  with 
him,"  he  chuckled. 

^'Unless  he  were  a  great  man,"  I  corrected. 

^^You  mean  a  rich  man,  Ben?  So  your  oil  business 
is  merely  a  little  love  attention,  after  all." 

^'No,  money  has  very  little  to  do  with  it,  and  the 
woman  I  w^ant  to  marry  wouldn't  marry  me  for  money. 
But  it's  the  mettle  that  counts,  and  in  this  age,  given  the 
position  I've  started  from,  how  can  a  man  prove  his 
mettle  except  by  success?  —  and  success  does  mean 
money.  The  president  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and 
Atlantic  Railroad  is  obliged  to  be  a  rich  man,  isn't  he  ?" 

^'So  you're  still  after  my  job,  eh?  Is  that  why 
you've  let  me  bully  and  badger  you  for  the  last  six 
years?" 

'^It  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,"  I  answered  honestly, 
for  the  gay  old  bird  liked  downright  speaking,  and  I 
knew  it.  ^^I'd  rather  have  been  your  confidential 
secretary  for  six  years  than  general  manager  of  traffic. 
I  was  learning  what  I  wanted  to  know." 

''And  what  was  that?" 


IN    WHICH    I    TEST   MY   STRENGTH  179 

''The  way  you  did  things.  The  way  you  handled 
men  and  bought  and  sold  stocks/' 

'^You  like  the  road,  too,  eh?" 

"1  like  the  road  as  long  as  it  can  be  of  use  to  me." 

''And  when  it  ceases  to  be  you'll  throw  it  over?" 

"Yes,  if  it  ever  ceases  to  be  I'll  throw  it  over  — 
honestly,"  I  answered. 

"Now  that's  the  thing,"  he  said,  '^remember  always 
that  in  handling  men  honesty  is  a  big  asset.  I've 
always  been  honest,  my  boy,  and  it's  helped  me  when 
I  needed  it.  Why,  when  I  came  in  and  got  control  of 
the  road  in  that  slump  after  the  war,  I  was  able  to 
reorganise  it  principally  because  of  the  reputation  for 
honesty  I  had  earned.  It  was  a  long  time  before  it 
began  to  pay  dividends,  but  nobody  grumbled.  They 
knew  I  was  doing  my  best  —  and  that  I  was  doing  it 
fair  and  square,  and  to-day  we  control  nearly  twenty 
thousand  miles  of  road." 

'^Yes,  honesty  I've  learned  in  your  office,  sir." 

"Well,  it's  good  training,  —  it's  mighty  good  train- 
ing, if  I  do  say  it  myself.  You  could  have  got  with  a 
darn  bloater  like  Dick  Horseley,  and  he'd  have  worked 
your  ruin.  Now  you  never  saw  me  lose  my  head, 
did  you,  eh,  Ben?" 

I  replied  that  I  had  not  —  not  even  when  his  private 
wire  had  ticked  off  news  of  the  last  panic. 

"Well,  I  never  did,"  he  said  reflectively,  "except 
with  women.  Take  my  advice,  Ben,  and  find  a  good 
sensible  wife,  even  if  she's  in  your  own  class,  and 
marry  and  settle  down.  It  steadies  a  man,  somehow. 
I'd  be  a  long  ways  happier  to-day,"  he  added,  a  little 
wistfully,  "if  I'd  taken  a  wife  when  I  was  young," 


180  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

I  thought  of  Miss  Matoaca,  with  her  bright  brown 
eyes,  her  withered  roseleaf  cheeks,  and  her  sacrifice  in 
the  cause  of  honour. 

^^ Whatever  you  are  don't  be  an  old  bachelor/'  he 
pursued  after  a  pause,  '4t  may  be  pleasant  in  the 
beginning,  but  I'll  be  blamed  if  it  pays  in  the  end. 
Find  a  good  sensible  woman  who  hasn't  any  opinions 
of  her  own,  and  you  will  be  happy.  But  as  you  value 
your  peace,  don't  go  and  fall  in  love  with  a  woman 
who  has  any  heathenish  ideas  in  her  head.  When  a 
woman  once  gets  that  maggot  in  her  brain,  she  stops 
believing  in  gentleness  and  self-sacrifice,  and  by  George, 
she  ceases  to  be  a  woman.  Every  man  knows  there's 
got  to  be  a  lot  of  sacrifice  in  marriage,  and  he  likes  to 
feel  that  he's  marrying  a  woman  who  is  fully  capable 
of  making  it.  A  strong-minded  woman  can't  —  she's 
gone  and  unsexed  herself  —  and  instead  of  taking 
pleasure  in  giving  up,  she  begins  to  talk  everlastingly 
about  her  ^honour.'  Pshaw!  the  next  thing  she'll 
expect  to  be  treated  as  punctiliously  as  if  she  were  a 
business  partner!" 

The  old  wound  still  ached  sometimes,  it  was  easy 
to  see;  and  because  of  his  age  and  his  growing  in- 
firmities, he  found  it  harder  to  keep  back  the  querulous 
complaints  that  rose  to  his  lips. 

^^Now,  there's  that  George  of  mine,"  he  resumed, 
still  fretting,  ^^he's  probably  gone  and  set  his  eyes  on 
Sally  Mickleborough,  and  it's  as  plain  as  daylight  that 
she's  got  a  plenty  of  that  outlandish  spirit  of  her 
aunt's.  I  don't  mean  she's  got  her  notions  —  I  ain't 
saying  any  harm  of  the  girl  —  she's  handsome  enough 
in  spite  of  Hatty's  nonsense  about  her  mouth  —  and 


IN    WHICH    I    TEST    MY    STRENGTH  181 

I  call  it  downright  scandalous  of  Edmund  Bland  to 
leave  every  last  penny  of  his  money  away  from  her. 
But,  mark  my  words,  and  I  tell  George  so  every 
single  day  I  live,  if  she  marries  George  he's  going  to 
have  trouble  as  sure  as  shot.  She's  just  the  kind  to 
expect  him  to  make  sacrifices,  and  by  Jove,  no  man 
wants  to  be  expected  to  make  sacrifices  in  his  own 
home  !'' 

Sacrifices !  My  blood  sang  in  my  ears.  If  she 
would  only  marry  me  I'd  promise  to  make  a  sacrifice 
for  her  every  blessed  minute  that  I  lived. 

'^And  do  you  think  she  likes  George,  General?"  I 
asked  tim.idly. 

'^Oh,  I  don't  suppose  she  knows  her  own  mind,"  he 
retorted.  ^^I  never  in  my  life,  sir,  knew  but  one 
woman  who  did." 

We  drove  on  for  a  minute  in  silence,  and  from  the 
red  and  watery  look  in  the  General's  eyes,  I  inferred 
that,  in  spite  of  his  broken  engagement  and  his  bitter 
judgment.  Miss  Matoaca  had  managed  to  retain  her 
place  in  his  memory.  As  I  looked  at  him,  sitting 
there  like  a  w^ounded  eagle,  huddled  under  his  fur 
rug,  a  feeling  of  thanksgiving  that  was  almost  one  of 
rapture  swelled  in  my  heart.  If  I  had  a  plain  name, 
I  had  also  a  clean  life  to  offer  the  woman  I  loved. 
When  I  remembered  the  strong,  pure  line  of  her  fea- 
tures, her  broad,  intelligent  brow,  her  clear,  unswerv- 
ing gaze,  I  told  myself  that  whatever  the  world  had 
to  say,  she,  at  least,  would  consider  the  difference  a 
fair  one.  At  the  great  moment  she  would  choose  me, 
I  knew,  for  myself  alone ;  choose  in  a  democracy  the 
man  who,  God  helping  him,  would  stand  always  for 


182  THE    ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

the  best  in  the  democratic  spirit  —  for  courage  and 
truth  and  strength  and  a  clean  honour  toward  men 
and  women. 

''Who  was  that  pretty  girl,  Ben/^  the  General  en- 
quired presently,  ''I  saw  you  walking  with  last  Sun- 
day?    A  sweetheart?'^ 

''No,  sir.     My  sister." 

^'A  lady?     She  looked  it." 

"She  has  been  taught  like  one." 

"What'll  you  do  with  her?     Marry  her  off?" 

"I  haven't  thought  —  but  she  won't  look  at  any  of 
the  men  she  knows." 

"Oh,  well,  if  the  National  Oil  wins,  you  may  give 
her  a  fortune.  There  are  plenty  of  young  chaps  w^ho 
would  jump  at  her.  Bless  my  soul,  she's  more  to  my 
taste  than  Sally  Mickleborough.  It's  the  women  who 
are  such  fools  about  birth,  you  know,  men  don't  care 
a  rap.  ^  hy,  if  I^d  loved  a  woman,  she  might  have 
been  born  in  the  poorhouse  for  all  the  thought  I'd 
have  given  it.  A  pretty  face  or  a  small  foot  goes  a 
long  sight  farther  with  a  man  than  the  tallest  grand- 
father that  ever  lived."  For  a  moment  he  was  silent, 
and  then  he  spoke  softly,  unconscious  that  he  uttered 
his  thought  aloud.  "No,  Matoaca's  birth,  whatever 
it  might  have  been,  couldn't  have  come  between  us 
—  it  was  her  damned  principles." 

He  looked  tired  and  old,  now  that  his  armour  of 
business  had  dropped  from  him,  as  he  sat  there,  with 
the  fur  rug  drawn  over  his  chest,  and  his  loose  low^er 
lip  hanging  slightly  away  from  his  shrunken  gums. 
A  sudden  pity,  the  first  I  had  ever  dared  feel  for  the 
president  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic 


IX    WHICH    I    TEST   MY   STRENGTH  183 

Railroad,  shot  through  my  heart.     The  gay  old  bird 
I  told  myself;  was  shedding  his  plumage  at  last. 

''Well,  as  long  as  I  can't  rest  on  my  birth,  I  might 
as  well  stand  up  on  something/'  I  said. 

''Women  think  a  lot  of  it/'  he  resumed,  as  if  he 
had  not  noticed  my  flippant  interjection;  "and  I 
reckon  it  about  fits  the  size  of  their  minds.  Why, 
to  hear  Miss  Mitty  Bland  talk  you  would  think  good 
birth  was  the  only  virtue  she  admitted  to  the  first 
rank.  I  was  telling  her  about  you/'  he  added  with  a 
chuckle,  "and  you've  got  sense  enough  to  see  the 
humour  of  what  she  said." 

"I  hope  I  have.  General." 

"Well,  I  began  it  by  boasting  about  your  looks, 
Ben,  if  you  don't  mind.  'That  wonderful  boy  of  ours 
is  the  finest-looking  fellow  in  the  South  to-day,  Miss 
Mitty,'  I  burst  out,  '  and  he  stands  six  feet  two  in  his 
stockings.'  'Ah,  General,'  she  repHed  sadly,  'what 
are  six  feet  two  inches  without  a  grandfather?'" 

He  threw  back  his  head  with  a  roar,  appearing  a 
trifle  chagrined  the  next  instant  by  my  faint-hearted 
pretence  of  mirth. 

"Doesn't  it  tickle  you,  Ben?"  he  enquired,  check- 
ing his  laughter. 

"I'm  afraid  it  makes  me  rather  angry.  General,"  I 
answered. 

"Oh,  well,  I  didn't  think  you'd  take  it  seriously. 
It's  just  a  joke,  you  know.  Go  ahead  and  make  your 
fortune,  and  they'll  receive  you  quick  enough." 

"But  they  have  received  me.  They  asked  me  to 
their  party." 

"That  was  Sally,  my  boy  —  it  was  her  party,  and 


184  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIX   MAX 

she  fought  the  ladies  for  you.  That  girl's  a  born 
fighter,  and  I  reckon  she  gets  it  from  Harry  Mickle- 
borough  —  for  the  only  blessed  thing  he  could  do  was 
to  fight.  He  was  a  mighty  poor  man,  was  Harry, 
but  a  God  Almighty  soldier  —  and  he  sent  more 
Yankees  to  glory  than  any  single  man  in  the  whole 
South.  The  girl  gets  it  from  him,  and  she  hasn't  any 
of  her  aunts'  aristocratic  nonsense  in  her  either.  She 
told  Miss  Mitty,  on  the  spot,  and  I  can  see  her  eyes  shine 
now,  that  she  liked  you  and  she  meant  to  know  you." 

'^That  she  meant  to  know  me,"  I  repeated,  with  a 
singing  heart. 

'^The  ladies  were  put  out,  I  could  see,  but  they 
ain't  a  match  for  that  scamp  Harry,  and  he's  in  her. 
There  never  lived  the  general  that  could  command 
him,  and  he'd  have  been  shot  for  insubordination  in 
'63  if  he  hadn't  been  as  good  as  a  whole  company  to 
the  army.  ^I'll  fight  for  the  South  and  welcome,'  he 
used  to  say,  ^but,  by  God,  sir,  I'll  fight  as  I  damn 
please.'  'Twas  the  same  way  about  the  church,  too. 
Old  Dr.  Peterson  got  after  him  once  about  standing, 
instead  of  kneeling,  during  prayers,  and  ^I'll  pray  as 
I  damn  please,  sir ! '  responded  Harry.  Oh,  he  was  a 
sad  scamp !" 

'^So  his  daughter  fought  for  me?"  I  said.  ^^How 
did  it  end?" 

''It  will  end  all  right  when  you  are  president  of  the 
Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  and  have 
shipped  me  to  Kingdom  Come.  They  won't  shut  their 
doors  in  j^our  face,  then." 

''But  she  stood  up  for  me?"  I  asked,  and  my  voice 
trembled. 


IX   WHICH   I   TEST   MY   STRENGTH  185 

^^She?  Do  you  mean  Miss  Matoaca?  Well,  she 
granted  your  good  looks  and  your  virtues,  but  she 
regretted  that  they  couldn't  ask  you  to  their  house.'' 

^^4ndMissMitty?" 

''Oh,  Miss  Mitty  assured  me  that  six  feet  two  were 
as  an  inch  in  her  sight,  without  a  grandfather." 

''But  her  niece  —  Miss  Mickleborough?"  I  had 
worked  delicately  up  to  my  point. 

"The  girl  fought  for  you  —  but  then  she's  obliged 
to  fight  for  something  —  it's  Harry  in  her.  That's 
why,  as  I  said  to  George  at  breakfast,  I  don't  want 
him  to  m.arry  her.  She's  a  good  girl,  and  I  Hke  her, 
but  who  in  the  deuce  wants  to  marry  a  fighting  wife? 
Look  at  that  fellow  mauling  his  horse,  Ben.  It  makes 
me  sick  to  see  'em  do  it,  but  it's  no  business  of  mine, 
I  reckon." 

"It  is  of  mine,  General,"  I  replied,  for  the  sight  of 
an  ill-treated  animal  had  made  my  blood  boil  since 
childhood.  Before  he  could  answer,  I  had  jumped 
over  the  moving  wheel,  and  had  reached  the  miserable, 
sore-backed  horse  struggling  under  a  load  of  coal  and 
a  big  stick. 

"Come  off  and  put  your  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  you 
drunken  brute,"  I  said,  as  my  rage  rose  in  my 
throat. 

"I'll  be  damned  if  I  will,"  replied  the  fellow,  and  he 
was  about  to  begin  belabouring  again,  when  I  seized 
him  by  the  collar  and  swung  him  clear  to  the  street. 

"I'll  be  damned  if  you  don't,"  I  retorted. 

I  was  a  strong  man,  and  when  my  passions  were 
roused,  the  thought  of  my  own  strength  slipped  from 
inv  consciousness. 


186  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

.  '^You'll  break  his  bones,  Ben/'  said  the  General,' 
leaning  out  of  his  buggy,  but  his  eyes  shone  as  they 
might  have  shone  at  the  sight  of  his  first  battle. 

^'I  hope  I  shall/'  I  responded  grimly,  and  going 
over  to  the  wagon  I  put  my  shoulder  to  the  wheel, 
and  began  the  ascent  of  the  steep  hill.  Somebody  on 
the  pavement  came  to  my  help  on  the  other  side,  and 
we  went  up  slowly,  with  a  half-drunken  driver  reeling 
at  our  sides  and  the  General  following,  in  his  buggy, 
a  short  way  behind. 

^^I  thought  you  were  a  diffident  fellow,  Ben,"  re- 
marked the  great  man,  as  I  took  my  seat  again  by  his 
side;  ^^but  I  don't  believe  there's  another  man  in 
Richmond  that  would  make  such  a  spectacle  of  him- 
self." 

^^I  forget  myself  when  I'm  worked  up,"  I  answered, 
*'and  I  forget  that  anybody  is  looking." 

^^Well,  somebody  was,"  he  replied  slyly.  ^^You 
didn't  see  Miss  Matoaca  Bland  pass  you  in  a  carriage 
as  you  were  pushing  that  wheel?" 

^^No,  I  didn't  see  anybody." 

^^She  saw  you  —  and  so  did  Sally  Mickleborough. 
Why,  I'd  have  given  something  pretty  in  my  day  to 
make  a  girl's  eyes  blaze  like  that." 

A  week  later  I  swallowed  my  pride,  with  an  effort, 
and  called  at  the  old  grey  house  at  the  hour  of  sunset. 
Selim,  st-epping  softly,  conducted  me  into  the  dimly 
lighted  dra^dng-room,  where  a  cedar  log  burned,  with 
a  delicious  fragrance,  on  a  pair  of  high  brass  andirons. 
The  red  glow,  half  light,  half  shadow,  flickered  over 
the  quaint  tapestried  furniture,  the  white-painted 
woodwork,  and  the  portraits  of  departed  Blands  and 


IN   WHICH    I   TEST   MY   STRENGTH  187 

Fairfaxes  that  smiled  gravely  down,  with  averted 
eyes.  In  a  massive  gilt  frame  over  a  rosewood  spinet 
there  was  a  picture  of  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss  Mataoca, 
painted  in  fancy  dress,  with  clasped  hands,  under  a 
garland  of  roses.  My  gaze  was  upon  it,  when  the 
sound  of  a  door  opening  quickly  somewhere  in  the 
rear  came  to  my  ears ;  and  the  next  instant  I  heard 
Miss  Mitty's  prim  tones  saying  distinctly :  — 

^^Tell  Mr.  Starr,  Selim,  that  the  ladies  are  not  re- 
ceiving." 

There  was  a  moment's  silence,  followed  by  a  voice 
that  brought  my  delighted  heart  with  a  bound  into 
my  throat. 

''Aunt  Mitty,  I  will  see  him.'' 

''Sally,  how  can  you  receive  a  man  who  was  not 
born  a  gentleman?" 

^''Aunt  Mitty,  if  you  don't  let  me  see  him  here,  Til 
—  I'll  meet  him  in  the  street." 

The  door  shut  sharply,  there  was  a  sound  of  rapid 
steps,  and  the  voices  ceased.  Harry  Mickleborough, 
in  his  daughter,  I  judged,  had  gained  the  victory;  for 
an  instant  afterwards  I  heard  her  cross  the  hall,  with 
a  defiant  and  energetic  rustle  of  skirts.  When  she 
entered  the  room,  and  held  out  her  hand,  I  saw  that 
she  was  dressed  in  her  walking  gown.  There  were 
soft  brown  furs  about  her  throat,  and  on  her  head  she 
wore  a  small  fur  hat,  vnth  sl  bunch  of  violets  at  one 
side,  under  a  thin  white  veil. 

"I  was  just  going  to  walk,"  she  said,  breathing  a 
little  quickly,  while  her  eyes,  very  wide  and  bright, 
held  that  puzzled  and  resolute  look  I  remembered; 
*'will  you  come  wath  me?" 


188  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

She  turned  at  once  to  the  door,  as  if  eager  to  leave 
the  house,  and  while  I  followed  her  through  the  hall, 
and  down  the  short  flight  of  steps  to  the  pavement, 
I  was  conscious  of  a  sharp  presentiment  that  I  should 
never  again  cross  that  threshoidc 


CHAPTER  XV 

A   IMEETIXG   IX   THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN 

I  SPOKE  no  word  of  love  in  that  brisk  walk  up 
Franklin  Street^  and  when  I  remembered  this  a  month 
afterwards,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  let  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  lifetime  slip  by.  Since  that  afternoon  I 
had  not  seen  Sally  again  —  some  fierce  instinct  held 
me  back  from  entering  the  doors  that  would  have 
closed  against  me  —  and  as  the  days  passed,  crowded 
with  work  and  cheered  by  the  immediate  success  of 
the  National  Oil  Company,  I  felt  that  Miss  Mitty  and 
Miss  Matoaca,  and  even  Sally,  whom  I  loved,  had 
faded  out  of  the  actual  world  into  a  vague  cloud-like 
horizon.  To  women  it  is  given,  I  suppose,  to  merge 
the  ideal  into  everyda}^  life,  but  with  men  it  is  dif- 
ferent. I  saw  Sally  still  every  minute  that  I  lived, 
but  I  saw  her  as  a  star,  set  high  above  the  common 
business  world  in  which  I  had  my  place  —  above  the 
strain  and  stress  of  the  General's  office,  above  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  stock  market,  above  the  brisk  trium- 
phant war  with  competitors  for  the  National  Oil  Com- 
pany, above  even  the  hope  of  the  future  presidency  of 
the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad.  Be- 
tween my  love  and  its  fulfilment,  stretched,  I  knew, 
hard  years  of  struggle,  but  bred  in  me,  bone  and 
structure,  the  instinct  of  democracy  was  still  strong 

189 


1^  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

enough  to  support  me  in  the  hour  of  defeat.  Never 
once  —  not  even  when  I  sat,  condescendingly  plied 
with  coffee  and  partridges,  face  to  face  with  the  won- 
der expressed  in  Miss  Mitty^s  eyes,  had  I  admitted  to 
myself  that  I  was  obliged  to  remain  in  the  class  from 
which  I  had  sprung.  Courage  I  had  never  lost  for  an 
instant;  the  present  might  embarrass  me,  but  the 
future,  I  felt  always,  I  held  securely  grasped  in  my 
own  hands.  The  birthright  of  a  Republic  was  mine 
as  w^ell  as  the  General's,  and  I  knew  that  among  a  free 
people  it  was  the  mettle  of  the  man  that  would  count 
in  the  struggle.  In  the  fight  between  democratic 
ideals  and  Old  World  institutions  I  had  no  fear,  even 
to-day,  of  what  the  future  would  bring.  The  right  of 
a  man  to  make  his  own  standing  was  all  that  I  asked. 

And  yet  the  long  waiting !  As  I  walked  one  Sun- 
day afternoon  over  to  Church  Hill,  after  a  visit  to 
Jessy  (who  was  living  now  with  a  friend  of  the  doc- 
tor's), I  asked  myself  again  and  again  if  Sally  had 
read  my  heart  that  last  afternoon  and  had  seen  in  it 
the  reason  of  my  fierce  reserve.  Jessy  had  been 
affectionate  and  very  pretty  —  she  was  a  cold,  small, 
blond  woman,  with  a  perfect  face  and  the  manner  of 
an  indifferent  child  —  but  she  had  been  unable  to 
wean  me  from  the  thought  which  returned  to  take 
royal  possession  as  soon  as  the  high  pressure  of  my 
working  day  was  relaxed.  It  controlled  me  utterly 
from  the  moment  I  put  the  question  of  the  stock 
market  aside;  and  it  was  driving  m.e  now,  like  the 
ghost  of  an  unhappy  lover,  back  for  a  passionate  hour 
in  the  enchanted  garden. 

The  house  was  half  closed  when  I  reached  it,  though 


A   MEETING   IN   THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN      191 

the  open  shutters  to  the  upper  windows  led  me  to 
believe  that  some  of  the  rooms,  at  least,  were  tenanted. 
When  I  entered  the  gate  and  passed  the  stuccoed  wing 
to  the  rear  piazza,  I  saw  that  the  terraces  were  blotted 
and  ruined  as  if  an  invading  army  had  tramped  over 
them.  The  magnolias  and  laburnums,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  lonely  trees,  had  already  fallen;  the 
latticed  arbours  were  slowly  rotting  away ;  and  several 
hardy  rose-bushes,  blooming  bravely  in  the  overgrown 
squares,  were  the  only  survivals  of  the  summer  splen- 
dour that  I  remembered.  Turning  out  of  the  path,  I 
plucked  one  of  these  gallant  roses,  and  found  it  pale 
and  sickly,  with  a  November  blight  at  the  heart. 
Only  the  great  elms  still  arched  their  bared  branches 
unchanged  against  a  red  sunset;  and  now  as  then  the 
small  yellow  leaves  fluttered  slowdy  down,  like  wounded 
butterflies,  to  the  narrow^  walks. 

I  had  left  the  upper  terrace  and  had  descended  the 
sunken  green  steps,  when  the  dry  rustle  of  leaves  in 
the  path  fell  on  my  ears,  and  turning  a  fallen  summer 
house,  I  saw  Sally  approaching  me  through  the  broken 
maze  of  the  box.  A  colour  flamed  in  her  face,  and 
pausing  in  the  leaf-strewn  path,  she  looked  up  at  me 
with,  shining  and  happy  eyes. 

'^It  has  been  so  long  since  I  saw  you,''  she  said, 
Vv'ith  her  hand  outstretched. 

I  took  her  hand,  and  turning  we  moved  down  the 
walk  while  I  still  held  it  in  mine.  Out  of  the  blur  of 
her  figure,  which  swam  in  a  mist,  I  saw  only  her 
shining  and  happy  eyes. 

'^It  has  been  a  thousand  years,''  I  answered,  ''but  I 
knew^  that  they  would  pass." 


192  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^That  they  would  pass?'^  she  repeated. 

^^That  they  must  pass.  I  have  worked  for  that  end 
every  minute  since  I  saw  you.  I  have  loved  you,  as 
you  surely  know/'  I  blurted  out,  ^^ every  instant  of  my 
life,  but  I  knew  that  I  could  offer  you  nothing  until  I 
^ould  offer  you  something  worthy  of  your  acceptance.'' 

Reaching  out  her  hand,  which  she  had  withdrawn 
from  mine,  she  caught  several  drifting  elm  leaves  in  her 
open  palm. 

^^And  what,"  she  asked  slowly,  ^^do  you  consider  to 
be  worthy  of  my  acceptance?" 

'^A  name,"  I  answered,  ^'that  you  would  be  proud  to 
bear.  Not  only  the  love  of  a  man's  soul  and  body,  but 
the  soul  and  body  themselves  after  they  have  been 
tried  and  tested.  Wealth,  I  know,  would  not  count 
with  you,  and  I  believe,  birth  would  not,  even  though 
you  are  a  Bland  —  but  I  must  have  wealth,  I  must 
have  honour,  so  that  at  least  you  will  not  appear  to 
stoop.  I  must  give  you  all  that  it  lies  in  my  power  to 
achieve,  or  I  must  give  you  nothing." 

^'Wealth!  honour!"  she  said,  with  a  little  laugh, 
'^0  Ben  Starr!  Ben  Starr!" 

^^So  that,  at  least,  you  will  not  appear  to  stoop," 
I  repeated. 

^^I  stoop  to  you?"  she  responded,  and  again  she 
laughed. 

^^You  know  that  I  love  you?"  I  asked. 

^^Yes,"  she  replied,  and  lifted  her  eyes  to  mine,  ^^I 
know  that  you  love  me." 

'^Beyond  love  I  have  nothing  at  the  moment." 

A  light  wind  swept  the  leaves  from  her  hand,  and 
blew  the  ends  of  her  white  veil  against  my  breast. 


A   MEETING   IX    THE    EN'CH ANTED    GAEDEN      193 

'^And  suppose,"  she  demanded  in  a  clear  voice, 
''that  love  was  all  that  I  wanted?" 

Her  lashes  did  not  tremble ;  but  in  her  eyes,  in  her 
parted  red  lips,  and  in  her  whole  swift  and  expectant 
figure,  there  was  something  noble  and  free,  as  if  she 
were  swept  forward  by  the  radiant  purpose  Tyhich 
shone  in  her  look. 

''Not  my  love  —  not  yet  —  my  darling,"  I  said. 

At  the  word  her  blush  came. 

"You  say  you  have  only  yourself  to  give,"  she  went 
on  with  an  effort.  "Is  it  possible  that  in  the  future  — 
in  any  future  —  you  could  have  more  than  yourself?" 

"Xot  more  love,  Sally,  not  more  love." 

"Then  more  of  what?" 

"Of  things  that  other  men  and  vromen  count  worth, 
the  having !  " 

The  sparkle  returned  to  her  eyes,  and  I  watched  the 
old  childish  archness  play  in  her  face. 

"Do  I  understand  that  you  are  proposing  to  other 
men  and  women  or  to  me,  sir?"  she  enquired,  above 
her  muff,  in  the  prim  tone  of  Miss  Mitty. 

"To  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,"  I  answered 
stubbornly,  though  I  longed  to  kiss  the  mockery  away 
from  her  curving  lips.  "When  the  time  comes  I  shall 
return  to  you." 

"And  you  are  doing  this  for  the  sake  of  other  people, 
not  for  me,"  she  said.  "I  suppose,  indeed,  that  it's 
Aunt  Mitty  and  Aunt  Matoaca  you  are  putting  before 
me.  They  would  be  flattered,  I  am  sure,  if  they  could 
only  know  of  it  —  but  they  can't.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  also  put  something  before  me,  so  I  don't  appear 
to  come  first  ^%dth  anybody.     Aunt  Mitty  prefers  her 


194  THE    EOMANCE    OF   A    PLAIN    MAN 

pride  and  x\unt  Matoaca  prefers  her  principles,  and 
you  prefer  both  —  " 

^^I  am  only  twenty-six/'  I  returned.  '^In  five  years 
—  in  ten  at  most  —  I  shall  be  far  in  the  race  —  " 

^^\nd  quite  out  of  breath  with  the  running/^  she 
observed;  ''by  the  time  you  turn  and  come  back  for 
me.'^ 

^'I  don't  dare  ask  you  to  wait  for  me." 

''As  a  matter  of  fact/'  she  responded  serenely,  ''I 
don't  think  I  shall.     I  could  never  endure  waiting." 

Her  calmness  was  like  a  dash  of  cold  water  into  my 
face. 

''Don't  laugh  at  me  whatever  you  do/'  I  im- 
plored. 

"I'm  not  laughing  —  it's  far  too  serious/'  she 
retorted.  "That  scheme  of  yours/'  she  flashed  out 
suddenly,  "is  worthy  of  the  great  brain  of  the 
General." 

"Now  I'll  stand  anything  but  that!"  I  replied,  and 
turned  squarely  on  her;  "Sally,  do  you  love  me?" 

"Love  a  man  who  puts  both  his  pride  and  his  prin- 
ciples before  me?" 

"If  you  don't  love  me  —  and,  of  course  you  can't  — 
why  do  you  torment  me?" 

"It  isn't  torment,  it's  education.  When  next  you 
start  to  propose  to  the  lady  of  your  choice,  don't  begin 
by  telling  her  you  are  lovesick  for  the  good  opinion  of 
her  maiden  aunts." 

"Sally,  Sally  !"  I  cried  joyfully.  My  hand  went  out 
to  hers,  and  then  as  she  turned  away  —  my  arm  was 
about  her,  and  the  little  fur  hat  with  the  bunch  of 
violets  w^as  on  my  breast. 


A   MEETING   IN    THE   ENCHANTED   GARDEN       195 

''0;  Ben  Starr,  were  you  born  blind?"  she  said  with 
a  sob. 

''Sally,  am  I  mad  or  do  you  love  me?"  I  asked,  and 
the  next  instant,  bending  over  as  she  looked  up,  I 
kissed  her  parted  lips. 

For  a  minute  she  was  silent,  as  if  my  kiss  had  drawn 
her  strength  through  her  tremulous  red  mouth.  Her 
body  quivered  and  seemed  to  melt  in  my  arms  —  and 
then  with  a  happy  laugh,  she  yielded  herself  to  my 
embrace. 

''A  little  of  both,  Ben,"  she  answered,  ''you  are  mad, 
I  suppose,  and  so  am  I  —  and  I  love  you." 

"But  how  could  you?     "When  did  you  begin?" 

"I  could  because  I  would,  and  there  was  no  begin- 
ning.    I  was  born  that  way." 

"You  meant  you  have  cared  for  me,  as  I  have  for 
you  —  always?" 

"Not  always,  perhaps  —  but  —  well,  it  started  in 
the  churchyard,  I  think,  when  I  gave  you  Samuel. 
Then  when  I  met  you  again  it  might  have  been  just  the 
way  you  look  —  for  oh,  Ben,  did  you  ever  discover 
that  you  are  splendid  to  look  at?" 

"A  magnificent  animal,"  I  retorted. 

She  blushed,  recognising  the  phrase.  '^To  tell  the 
truth,  though,  it  wasn't  the  way  you  look,"  she  went 
on  impulsively,  "it  was,  I  think,  —  I  am  quite  sure,  — 
the  time  you  pushed  that  wheel  up  the  hill.  I  adored 
you,  Ben,  at  that  moment.  If  you'd  asked  me  to 
marry  you  on  the  spot  I'd  have  responded,  'Yes, 
thank  you,  sir,'  as  one  of  my  great-grandmothers  did 
at  the  altar." 

"And    to    think    I    didn't    even    know    you    were 


196  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

there.  I'd  forgotten  it,  but  I  remember  now  the 
General  told  me  I  made  a  spectacle  of  myself." 

^^Well;  I  always  liked  a  spectacle,  it's  in  my  blood. 
I  like  a  man,  too,  who  does  things  as  if  he  didn't  care 
whether  anybody  was  looking  at  him  or  not  —  and 
that's  you,  Ben." 

^^It's  not  my  business  to  shatter  your  ideals,"  I 
answered,  and  the  next  minute,  '^0  Sally,  how  is  it 
to  end?" 

^^That  depends,  doesn't  it,"  she  asked,  ^^ whether 
you  want  to  marry  me  or  my  maiden  aunts?" 

^^Do  you  mean  that  you  w^ill  marry  me?" 

^^I  mean,  Ben,  that  if  you  aren't  so  obliging  as  to 
marry  me,  I'll  pine  away  and  die  a  lovelorn  death." 

^^Be  serious,  Sally." 

^^ Could  anything  on  earth  be  more  serious  than  a 
lovelorn  death?  " 

I  would  have  caught  her  back  to  my  breast,  but 
eluding  my  arms,  she  stood  poised  like  the  fleeting 
spirit  of  gaiety  in  the  little  path. 

^^Will  you  promise  to  marry  me,  Ben  Starr?"  she 
asked. 

^^I'll  promise  anything  on  earth,"  I  answered. 

'^Not  to  talk  any  more  about  my  stooping  to  a 
giant?" 

^^I  w^on't  talk  about  it,  darling,  I'll  let  you  do  it." 

^^And  if  you're  poor  you'll  let  me  be  poor  too?  And 
if  you're  rich  you'll  give  me  a  share  of  the  money?" 

^^Both  — all." 

^^\nd  you'll  make  a  sacrifice  for  me  —  as  the  Gen- 
eral said  George  wouldn't  —  whenever  I  happen  par- 
ticularlv  to  want  one  ?  " 


A   MEETING   IN    THE    ENCHANTED   GARDEN      197 

'^A  million  of  them  —  anything,  everything." 

She  came  a  step  nearer,  and  raised  her  smiling  lips  to 
mine. 

'^ Anything  —  everything,  Ben,  together,"  she  said. 

Presently  we  walked  back  slowly,  hand  in  hand, 
through  the  maze  of  box. 

^^  Will  you  tell  your  aunts,  or  shall  I,  Sally  ?"  I  asked. 

''We'll  go  to  them  together." 

''Now,  at  this  instant?" 

"Now  —  at  this  instant,"  she  agreed,  "but  I  thought 
you  were  so  patient?" 

"Patient?  I'm  as  patient  as  an  engine  on  the  Great 
South  Midland." 

"A  minute  ago  you  were  prepared  to  wait  ten  years." 

"Oh,  ten  years  !"  I  echoed,  as  I  followed  her  out  of 
the  enchanted  garden. 

At  the  corner  the  surrey  was  standing,  and  the  face 
of  old  Shadrach,  the  negro  driver,  stared  back  at  me, 
transfixed  with  amazement. 

"Whar  you  gwine  now.  Miss  Sally?"  he  demanded 
defiantly  of  his  young  mistress,  as  I  took  my  place 
under  the  fur  rug  beside  her. 

"Home,   Uncle  Shadrach,"   she   replied. 

'^  Ain't  I  gwine  drap  de  gent'man  some  whar  on  de 
way  up?" 

"No,  Uncle  Shadrach,  home,"  —  and  for  home  we 
started  merrily  with  a  flick  of  the  whip  over  the  backs 
of  the  greys. 

Sitting  beside  her  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  was 
conscious,  as  we  drove  through  the  familiar  streets,  only 
of  an  acute  physical  delight  in  her  presence.  As  she 
turned  toward  me,  her  breath  fanned  my  cheek,  the 


198  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

touch  of  her  arm  on  mine  was  a  rapture,  and  when  the 
edge  of  her  white  veil  was  blown  into  my  face,  I  felt 
my  blood  rush  to  meet  it.  Never  before  had  I  been  so 
confident,  so  strong,  so  assured  of  the  future.  Not 
the  future  alone,  but  the  whole  universe  seemed  to  lie 
in  the  closed  palm  of  my  hand.  I  knew  that  I  was 
plain,  that  I  was  rough  beside  the  velvet  softness  of 
the  woman  who  had  promised  to  share  my  life ;  but 
this  plainness,  this  roughness,  no  longer  troubled  me 
since  she  had  found  in  it  something  of  the  power  that 
had  drawn  her  to  me.  My  awkwardness  had  dropped 
from  me  in  the  revelation  of  my  strength  which  she  had 
brought.  The  odour  of  burning  leaves  floated  up  from 
the  street,  and  I  saw  again  her  red  shoes  dancing  over 
the  sunken  graves  in  the  churchyard.  Oh,  those  red 
shoes  had  danced  into  my  life  and  would  stay  there 
forever ! 


CHAPTER  XVI 

IN  WHICH   SALLY   SPEAKS   HER  MIND 

We  crossed  the  threshold,  which  I  had  thought  never 
to  pass  again,  and  entered  the  drawing-room,  where  a 
cedar  log  burned  on  the  andirons.  x\t  either  end  of  the 
low  brass  fender.  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss  Matoaca  sat  very- 
erect,  like  two  delicate  silhouettes,  the  red  light  of  the 
flames  shining  through  their  fine,  almost  transparent 
profiles.  Beyond  them,  over  the  rosewood  spinet,  I 
saw  their  portrait,  painted  in  fancy  dress,  with  clasped 
hands  under  a  garland  of  roses. 

As  we  entered  the  room,  they  rose  slightly  from  their 
chairs,  and  turned  toward  us  with  an  expression  of  mild 
surprise  on  their  faces.  It  was  impossible,  I  knew,  for 
their  delicat-ely  moulded  features  to  express  any  im- 
pulse more  strongly. 

''Dear  aunties,"  began  Sally,  in  a  voice  that  was  a 
caress,  ''I've  brought  Ben  back  with  me  because  I 
met  him  in  the  garden  on  Church  Hill  —  and  —  and  — 
and  he  told  me  that  he  loved  me." 

"He  told  you  that  he  loved  you?"  repeated  Miss 
Mitty  in  a  high  voice,  while  Miss  Matoaca  sat  speech- 
less, with  her  unnaturally  bright  eyes  on  her  niece's 
face. 

Kneeling  on  the  rug  at  their  feet,  Sally  looked  from 
one  to  the  other  with  an  appealing  and  tender  glance. 

199 


200  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^You  brought  him  back  because  he  told  you  that  ht 
loved  you?"  said  Miss  Mitty  again,  as  if  her  closed 
mind  had  refused  to  admit  the  words  she  had  uttered. 

''Well,  only  partly  because  of  that.  Aunt  Mitty/' 
replied  Sally  bravely,  ''the  rest  was  because  —  because 
I  told  him  that  I  loved  him." 

For  a  moment  there  was  a  tense  and  unnatural 
silence  in  the  midst  of  which  I  heard  the  sharp  crack- 
ling of  the  fire  and  smelt  the  faint  sweet  smell  of 
the  burning  cedar.  The  two  aunts  looked  at  each 
other  over  the  kneeling  girl,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
that  the  long,  narrow  faces  had  grown  suddenly 
pinched  and  old. 

"I  —  I  don^t  think  we  understood  quite  what  you 
said,  Sally  dear,"  said  Miss  Matoaca,  in  a  hesitating 
voice ;  and  I  felt  sorry  for  her  as  she  spoke  —  sorry  for 
them  both  because  the  edifice  of  their  beliefs  and  tradi- 
tions, reared  so  patiently  through  the  centuries  by 
dead  Fairfaxes  and  Blands,  had  crumbled  about  their 
ears. 

"VvTiat  she  means.  Miss  Matoaca,"  I  said  gently, 
coming  forward  into  the  firelight,  "is  that  I  have  asked 
her  to  marry  me." 

"  To  marry  you  —  you  —  Ben  Starr  ?  "  exclaimed 
Miss  Mitty  abruptly,  rising  from  her  chair,  and  then 
falling  nervelessly  back.  "There  is  some  mistake 
—  not  that  I  doubt,"  she  added  courteously,  the 
generations  of  breeding  overcoming  her  raw  impulse  of 
horror,  "not  that  I  doubt  for  a  minute  that  you  are  an 
estimable  and  deserving  character  —  General  Boling- 
broke  tells  me  so  and  I  trust  his  word.  But  Sally 
marr}^  you  !     Why,  your  father  —  I  beg  your  pardon 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   SPEAKS   HER   MIND         201 

for  reminding  you  of  it  —  your  father  was  not  even  an 
educated  man.'' 

''No/'  I  replied,  '^my  father  was  not  an  educated 
man,  but  I  am/' 

''That  speaks  very  well  for  you,  sir,  I  am  sure  —  but 
how  —  how  could  my  niece  marry  a  man  who  —  I 
apologise  again  for  alluding  to  your  origin  —  whose 
father  was  a  stone-cutter  —  I  have  heard?" 

"Yes,  he  was  a  stone-cutter,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say 
wasn't  even  a  good  one." 

"I  don't  know  that  good  or  bad  makes  a  difference, 
except,  of  course,  as  it  affected  his  earning  a  livelihood. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  he  was  a  common  workman 
and  that  no  member  of  our  family  on  either  side  has 
ever  been  even  remotely  connected  with  trade.  Surely, 
you  yourself,  Mr.  Starr,  must  be  aware  that  my  niece 
and  you  are  not  in  the  same  walk  of  life.  Do  you  not 
realise  the  impossibility  of  —  of  the  connection  you 
speak  of?" 

"I  realised  it  so  much,"  I  answered,  "that  until  I 
met  her  this  afternoon  I  had  determined  to  wait  five  — 
perhaps  ten  years  before  asking  her  to  become  my 
wife." 

"Ten  years?  But  what  can  ten  years  have  to  do 
with  it?  Families  are  not  made  in  ten  years,  Mr. 
Starr,  and  how  could  that  length  of  time  alter  the  fact 
that  your  father  was  a  person  of  no  education  and  that 
you  yourself  are  a  self-made  man?" 

"I  am  not  ashamed  to  offer  her  the  man  after  he  is 
made,"  I  replied.  "What  I  did  not  think  worthy  of 
her  was  the  man  in  the  making." 

"But  it  is  the  man  in  the  making  that  I  want,"  said 


202  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

Sally,  rising  to  her  feet,  and  taking  my  hand  in  hers. 
''0  Aunt  Matoaca,  I  love  him!" 

The  little  lady  to  whom  she  appealed  bent  slowly  for- 
ward in  the  firelight,  her  face,  which  had  grown  old  and 
wan,  looking  up  at  us,  as  we  stood  there,  hand  in  hand, 
on  the  rug. 

"f  am  distressed  for  you,  Sally,"  she  said,  ^^but  when 
it  becomes  a  question  of  honour,  love  must  be  sacri- 
ficed." 

'^Honour!"  cried  Sally,  and  there  was  a  passionate 
anger  in  her  voice,  ^^but  I  do  honour  him."  My  hand 
was  in  hers,  and  she  stooped  and  kissed  it  before  turn- 
ing to  Miss  Matoaca,  who  had  drawn  herself  up,  thin 
and  straight  as  a  blade,  in  her  chair. 

^^You  are  right,"  I  said,  ^'to  tell  me  that  I  am  un- 
worthy of  your  niece  —  for  I  am.  I  am  plain  and 
rough  beside  her,  but,  at  least,  I  am  honest.  What  I 
offer  her  is  a  man's  heart,  and  a  man's  hand  that  has 
dealt  cleanly  and  fairly  with  both  men  and  women." 

Until  the  words  were  uttered  my  pride  had  blinded 
me  to  my  cruelty.  Then  I  saw  two  bright  red  spots 
appear  in  Miss  Matoaca's  thin  cheeks,  and  I  asked 
myself  in  anger  if  the  General  or  George  Bolingbroke 
would  have  been  guilty  of  so  deep  a  thrust  ?  Did  she 
dream  that  I  knew  her  story  ?  And  were  those  pathetic 
red  spots  the  outward  sign  of  a  stab  in  her  gentle 
bosom? 

^^ There  are  many  different  kinds  of  merit,  Mr.  Starr," 
she  returned,  with  a  wistful  dignity.  "  I  do  not  under- 
value that  of  character,  but  I  do  not  think  that  even  a 
good  character  can  atone  for  the  absence  of  family  in- 
heritance —  of  the  qualities  which  come  from  refined 


IN   WHICH    SALLY   SPEAKS   HER   MIND  203 

birth  and  breeding.  We  have  had  the  misfortune  in 
our  family  of  one  experience  of  an  ill-assorted  and 
tragic  marriage/'  she  added. 

'^  We  must  never  forget  poor  Sarah's  misery  and  ours, 
Sister  Matoaca,"  remarked  Miss  Mitty,  from  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  hearth;  ^^and  yet  Harry  Mickle- 
borough's  father  was  a  most  respectable  man,  and  the 
teacher  of  Greek  in  a  college." 

All  the  pity  went  out  of  me,  and  I  felt  only  a  blind 
sense  of  irritation  at  the  artificial  values,  the  feminine 
lack  of  grasp,  the  ignorance  of  the  true  proportions  of 
life.  I  grew  suddenly  hard,  and  something  of  this 
hardness  passed  into  my  voice  when  I  spoke. 

^'I  stand  or  fall  by  own  worth  and  by  that  alone,''  I 
returned,  ^'and  your  niece,  if  she  marries  me,  will 
stand  or  fall  as  I  do.  I  ask  no  favours,  no  allowances, 
even  from  her." 

Withdrawing  her  hand  from  mine,  Sally  took  a 
single  step  forward,  and  stood  with  her  eyes  on  the 
faces  that  showed  so  starved  and  wan  in  the  firelight. 

''Don't  you  see  —  oh,  can't  you  see,"  she  asked, 
''that  it  is  because  of  these  very  things  that  I  love  him? 
How  can  I  separate  his  past  from  what  he  is  to-day? 
How  can  I  say  that  I  would  have  this  or  that  different 
—  his  birth,  his  childhood,  his  struggle  —  when  all 
these  have  helped  to  make  him  the  man  I  love  ?  Who 
else  have  I  ever  known  that  could  compare  with  him 
for  a  minute?  You  wanted  me  to  marry  George 
Bolingbroke,  but  what  has  he  ever  done  to  prove  what 
he  was  worth?" 

"Sally,  Sally,"  said  Miss  Mitty,  sternly,  "he  had  no 
'leed  to  prove  it.     It  was  proved  centuries  before  his 


204  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

birth.  The  Bolingbrokes  proved  themselves  to  their 
king  before  this  was  a  country  —  " 

^'Well,  I'm  not  his  king/'  rejoined  Sally,  scornfully, 
'^so  it  wasn't  proved  to  me.     I  ask  something  more." 

^' More,  Sally?" 

^^YeS;  more,  Aunt  Mitty,  a  thousand  times  and  ten 
thousand  times.  What  do  I  care  for  a  dead  arm  that 
fought  for  a  dead  king  ?  Both  are  dust  to-day,  and  I 
am  alive.  No,  no,  give  me,  not  honour  and  loyalty 
that  have  been  dead  five  hundred  years,  but  truth  and 
courage  that  I  can  turn  to  to-day,  —  not  chivalric 
phrases  that  are  mere  empty  sound,  but  honesty  and  a 
strong  arm  that  I  can  lean  on." 

Miss  Matoaca's  head  had  dropped  as  if  from  weari- 
ness over  her  thin  breast,  which  palpitated  under  the 
piece  of  old  lace,  like  the  breast  of  a  wounded  bird. 
Then,  as  the  girl  stopped  and  caught  her  breath  sharply 
from  sheer  stress  of  feeling,  the  little  lady  looked  up 
again  and  straightened  herself  with  a  gesture  of  pride. 

*^Do  not  make  the  mistake,  Sally,"  she  said,  ''of 
thinking  that  a  humble  birth  means  necessarily  greater 
honesty  than  a  high  one.  Generations  of  refinement 
are  the  best  material  for  character-building,  and  you 
might  as  easily  find  the  qualities  you  esteem  in  a 
gentleman  of  your  own  social  position." 

''I  might.  Aunt  Matoaca;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
have  I?  Until  you  have  seen  a  man  fight  can  you 
know  him?  Is  family  tradition,  after  all,  as  good  a 
school  as  the  hard  world?  A  life  like  Ben's  does  not 
always  make  a  man  good,  I  know,  but  it  has  made  him 
so.  If  this  were  not  true  —  if  any  one  could  prove  to 
me  that  he  had  been  false  or  cruel  to  any  living  creature 


IN   WHICH   SAJLLY   SPEAKS   HER   MIND  205 

—  man,  woman,  or  animal  —  I'd  give  him  up  to-day 
and  not  break  my  heart  —  " 

It  was  true,  I  knew  it  as  she  spoke,  and  I  could 
have  knelt  to  her. 

'^  You  are  blind,  Sally,  blind  and  rash  as  your  mother 
before  you/'  returned  Miss  Mitty. 

''No,  Aunt  Mitty,  it  is  you  who  are  blind  —  who  see 
by  the  old  values  that  the  world  has  long  since  out- 
grown —  who  think  you  can  assign  a  place  to  a  man 
and  say  to  him,  ^You  belong  there  and  cannot  come 
out  of  it.'  But,  oh.  Aunt  Matoaca,  surely  you,  who 
have  sacrificed  so  much  for  what  you  believe  to  be  right, 

—  who  have  placed  principle  before  any  claims  of  blood, 
surely  you  will  uphold  me  —  " 

"My  child,  my  child,"  replied  the  poor  lady,  ^ith  a 
sob,  '^I  placed  principle  first,  but  never  emotion  — 
never  emotion." 

"Poor  Sarah  was  the  only  one  of  us  who  gave  up 
everything  for  the  sake  of  an  emotion,"  added  Miss 
Mitty,  ''and  what  did  it  bring  her  except  misery?" 

Our  cause  was  lost  —  we  saw  it  at  the  same  instant  — 
and  again  SaUy  gave  me  her  hand  and  stood  side  by 
side  ^*ith  me  in  the  firelight. 

"I  am  sorry,  dear  aunts,"  she  said  gently,  and 
turning  to  me,  she  added  slowly  and  clearly,  ''I  ^ill 
marry  you  a  year  from  to-day,  if  you  -^ill  wait,  Ben." 

"1  wiU  wait  for  you,  whether  you  marry  me  or  not, 
forever,"  I  answered  ;  and  bowing  silently,  I  turned  and 
left  the  room,  while  Sally  went  down  again  on  her  knees. 

Once  outside,  I  drew  a  long  breath  of  air,  sharp  with 
the  scent  of  the  sycamore,  and  stood  gazing  up  at  the 
clear  sunset  beyond  the  silvery  boughs.  ^    It  was  good  to 


206  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

be  out  of  those  mouldering  traditions^  that  atmosphere 
of  an  all-enveloping  past ;  good,  too,  to  be  out  of  the 
tapestried  room,  away  from  the  grave,  fixed  smiles  of 
the  dead  Blands  and  Fairfaxes  and  the  close,  sweet 
smell  of  the  burning  cedar.  There  I  dared  not  step 
with  my  full  weight,  lest  I  should  ruthlessly  tread  on  a 
sentiment,  or  bring  down  a  moth-eaten  tradition  upon 
my  head.  I  was  for  the  hard,  bright  world,  and  the 
future;  there  in  that  cedar-scented  room,  sat  the 
two  ladies,  forever  guarding  the  faded  furniture  and 
the  crumbling  past.  The  pathetic  contradiction  of  Miss 
Matoaca  returned  to  me,  and  I  laughed  aloud.  Miss 
Matoaca,  who  worked  for  the  emancipation  of  women, 
while  she  herself  was  the  slave  of  an  ancestry  of  men 
who  oppressed  women,  and  women  who  loved  oppres- 
sion !  Miss  Matoaca,  whose  mind,  long  and  narrow 
like  her  face,  could  grasp  but  a  single  idea  and  reject  the 
sequence  to  which  it  inevitably  led  !  I  wondered  if  she 
meant  to  emancipate  ''ladies"  merely,  or  if  her  prin- 
ciples could  possibly  overleap  her  birthright  of  caste? 
Was  she  a  gallant  martyr  to  the  inequalities  of  sex, 
who  still  clung,  trembling,  to  the  inequahties  of  society? 
She  would  go  to  the  stake,  I  felt  sure,  for  the  cause  of 
womanhood,  but  she  would  go  supported  by  the  serene 
conviction  that  she  was  "a,  lady."  The  pathos  of  it, 
and  the  mockery,  checked  the  laugh  in  my  throat. 
To  how  many  of  us,  after  all,  was  it  given  to  discern, 
not  only  immediate  effects,  but  universal  relations  as 
well?  To  the  General?  To  myself?  What  did  we 
see  except  the  possible  opportunity,  the  room  for  the 
ego,  the  adjustment  to  selfish  ends?  Yet  our  school 
was  the  world.     Should  we,  then,  expect  that  little  lady, 


IN   WHICH    SALLY   SPEAKS   HER   MIND  207 

viiih  her  bright  eyes  and  her  withered  roseleaf  cheeks,  to 
look  farther  than  the  scented  fireHght  in  which  she  sat  ? 
I  felt  a  tenderness  for  her,  as  I  felt  a  tenderness  for  all 
among  whom  Sally  moved.  The  house  in  which  she 
lived,  the  threshold  she  had  crossed,  the  servants  who 
surrounded  her,  were  all  bathed  for  me  in  the  rosy  light 
of  her  lamps.  Common  day  did  not  shine  there.  I  was 
but  twenty-seven,  and  my  eyes  could  still  find  romance 
in  the  rustle  of  her  skirt  and  in  the  curl  of  her  eyelash. 

In  the  little  office,  where  the  curtains  were  drawn  and 
the  green-shaded  lamp  already  Ht,  I  found  Dr.  Theophi- 
lus  sitting  over  his  evening  mint  julep,  the  solitary  dis- 
sipation in  which  I  had  ever  seen  him  indulge.  His 
strong,  ruddy  face,  \\dth  its  hooked  nose  and  illuminat- 
ing smile,  was  still  the  face  of  a  middle-aged  man, 
though  he  had  passed,  a  year  ago,  his  seventieth 
birthday.  At  his  feet,  Waif,  a  stray  dog,  rescued  in 
memory  of  Robin,  the  pointer,  was  curled  up  on  a  rug. 

^'Well,  my  boy,"  he  said  cheerily,  ^'youVe  had  a  good 
day,  I  hope?" 

'^A  good  day,  doctor,  I've  been  in  heaven,"  I 
answered. 

His  smile  shone  out,  clear  and  bright,  as  it  did  at  a 
patient's  bedside.  ^'IVe  been  there,  too,  Ben,"  he 
responded,  ''forty  years  ago." 

''Then  why  didn't  you  stay,  sir?" 

"Because  it  isn't  given  to  any  man  to  stay  longer  than 
a  few  minutes.  Ah,  my  boy,  you  are  the  mixture  of  a 
fighter  and  a  dreamer." 

"But  suppose,"  I  blushed,  for  I  was  a  reserved  man, 
though  few  people  were  reserved  with  Dr.  Theophilus, 
"suppose  that  your  heaven  is  a  woman?" 


208  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^  ^  Has  it  ever  been  anything  else  to  a  man  since  Adam  ?  ^' 
he  asked.  ^'' Every  man's  heaven,  and  most  men's  hell, 
is  a  woman,  my  boy.  Why,  look  at  old  George  Boling- 
broke  now !  He^s  no  longer  young,  and  he's  certainly 
no  longer  handsome,  yet  I've  seen  him,  in  his  day, 
stand  up  straight  and  tall  in  church  at  Miss  Matoaca 
Bland's  side,  and  look  perfectly  happy  because  he  could 
sing  from  the  same  hymn-book.  Then  a  week  later, 
when  she'd  thrown  him  over,  I  saw  him  jump  up  at  a 
supper,  and  drink  champagne  out  of  the  slipper  of 
some  variety  actress." 

^'Yet  she  was  right,  I  suppose,  to  throw  him  over?'' 

'^Oh,  she  was  right,  I'm  not  questioning  that  she  was 
right,"  he  responded  hastily;  ^^but  it  isn't  always  the 
woman  who  is  right,  Ben,"  he  added,  "ihat  makes  a 
man's  heaven." 

'^The  poor  little  lady  had  no  slipperful  of  champagne 
to  fall  back  on,"  I  suggested. 

^^It's  a  pity  she  hadn't  —  for  it's  as  true  as  the 
Gospel,  that  George  Bolingbroke  drove  her  into  all  this 
nonsense  about  the  equality  of  sexes.  Equality,  in- 
deed !  A  man  doesn't  want  to  make  love  to  an  equal, 
but  to  an  angel !  Bless  my  soul,  I  don't  know  to  save 
my  life,  what  to  think  of  Miss  Matoaca,  axcept  that 
she's  crazy.  That's  the  kindest  thing  I  can  say  for  her. 
She's  gone  now  and  got  into  correspondence  with 
some  bloodthirsty,  fire-eating  woman's  rights  advocates 
up  North,  and  she's  actually  taken  to  distributing 
their  indecent  pamphlets.  She  had  the  face  to  leave  one 
on  my  desk  this  morning.  I'd  just  taken  it  in  the  tongs 
before  you  came  in  and  put  it  into  the  fire.  There  are 
the  ashes  of  it,"  he  added  sardonically,  waving  his 


IX   WHICH    SALLY   SPEAKS   HER   MIND  209 

silver  goblet  in  the  direction  of  some  grey  shreds  of 
paper  in  the  fireplace. 

^^All  the  same,  doctor,  she  may  be  crazy,  but  I 
respect  her.'' 

'' Respect  her?  Respect  Miss  Matoaca  Bland?  Of 
course  you  respect  her,  sir.  Even  George  Bolingbroke, 
bitter  as  he  is,  respects  her  from  his  boots  up.  She's 
the  embodiment  of  honour,  and  if  there's  a  man  alive 
who  doesn't  respect  the  embodiment  of  honour,  be  it 
male  or  female,  he  ought  —  he  ought  to  be  taken  out 
and  horsewhipped,  sir !  Her  ow^n  sister,  poor  Miss  Mitty, 
has  the  greatest  veneration  for  her,  though  she  can't 
help  l}4ng  awake  at  night  and  wondering  where  those 
crazy  principles  will  lead  her  next.  If  they  lead  her 
to  a  quagmire,  she'll  lift  her  skirts  and  step  in,  Ben, 
there's  no  doubt  of  that  —  and  w^hat  Miss  Mitty  fears 
now  is  that,  since  she's  got  hold  of  these  aboHtion 
sheets,  they'll  lead  her  to  the  public  platform  —  " 

^'You  mean  she'd  get  up  and  speak  in  public?  She 
couldn't  to  save  her  head." 

^^  You'd  better  not  conclude  that  Miss  Matoaca  can't 
do  anything  until  you've  seen  her  try  it,"  replied  the 
doctor  indignantly.  '^I  suppose  you'd  think  she 
couldn't  bombard  a  political  meeting,  with  not  a 
woman  to  help  her.  Yet  last  winter  she  went  down 
to  the  Legislature,  in  her  black  silk  dress  and  poke 
bonnet,  and  tried  to  get  her  obnoxious  measures 
brought  before  a  committee." 

''Was  she  laughed  at?"  I  demanded  angrily. 

''Good  Lord,  no.  They  are  gentlemen,  even  if  they 
are  politicians,  and  they  know  a  lady  even  if  she's 
cracked." 


210  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAII^   MAN 

^^ And  is  she  entirely  alone ?     Has  she  no  supporter?" 

^^As  far  as  I  know,  my  boy,  Matoaca  Bland  is  the 
only  blessed  thing  in  the  state  that  cares  a  continental 
whether  women  are  emancipated  or  not." 

He  lifted  the  silver  goblet  to  his  lips,  and  drank  long 
and  deeply,  while  the  rustle  of  Mrs.  Clay's  skirts  was 
heard  at  his  office  door.  After  a  sharp  rap,  she  entered 
in  her  bustling  way,  and  presented  me  with  a  second 
julep,  deliciously  frosted  and  fragrant.  She  was  a 
small,  very  alert  old  lady,  wearing  a  bottle-green 
alpaca,  made  so  slender  in  the  waist  that  it  caused  her 
to  resemble  one  of  her  own  famous  pickled  cucumbers. 

^^Theophilus,"  she  began  in  a  crisp,  high  voice, 
^^I  hope  you  have  sent  in  those  bills,  as  you  promised 
me?" 

'^Good  Lord,  Tina,"  responded  the  doctor,  with  a 
burst  of  irritation,  ^4sn't  it  bad  enough  to  be  sick 
without  being  made  to  pay  for  it?" 

'^You  promised  me,  Theophilus." 

^^I  promised  you  I'd  send  bills  to  the  folks  I'd  cured, 
but,  when  I  came  to  think  of  it,  how  was  I  to  know, 
Tina,  that  I^d  cured  any?" 

'^  At  least  you  dosed  them?  " 

^^Yes,  I  dosed  them,"  he  admitted;  ^^but  taking 
medicine  isn't  a  pleasure  that  I'd  like  to  pay  for." 

Turning  away,  she  rustled  indignantly  through  the 
door,  and  Dr.  Theophilus,  as  he  returned  to  the  rim  of 
his  silver  goblet,  gave  me  a  sly  wink  over  his  sprigs  of 
mint. 

^'Yes,  Ben,  it  isn't  always  the  woman  who  is  right 
that  makes  a  man's  heaven,"  he  said. 


CHAPTER  X\^I 

IN  WHICH  MY  FORTUNES  BISE 

The  winter  began  with  a  heavy  snow-storm  and 
ended  in  a  long  April  rain,  and  in  all  those  swiftly 
moving  months  I  had  seen  Sally  barely  a  dozen  times. 
Not  only  my  pride,  but  Miss  Mitty's  rigid  commands 
had  kept  me  from  her  house,  and  the  giri  had  promised 
that  for  the  first  six  months  she  would  not  meet  me 
except  by  chance. 

''In  the  spring  —  oh,  in  the  spring,"  she  wrote,  ''I 
shall  be  free.  My  promise  was  given  and  I  could  not 
recall  it,  but  I  believe  now  that  it  was  pride,  not  love, 
that  made  them  exact  it.  Do  you  know,  I  sometimes 
think  that  they  do  not  love  me  at  all.  They  have  both 
told  me  that  they  would  rather  see  me  dead  than  mar- 
ried, as  they  call  it,  beneath  me.  Beneath  me,  indeed  ! 
Ah,  dearest,  dearest,  how  can  one  lower  one's  self  to  a 
giant?  When  I  think  of  all  that  you  are,  of  all  that 
you  have  made  yourself,  I  feel  so  humble  and  proud. 
The  truth  is,  Ben,  I'm  not  suffering  half  so  much  from 
love  as  I  am  from  indignation.  If  it  keeps  up,  some 
day  ril  burst  out  like  Aunt  Matoaca,  for  I've  got  it  in 
me.  And  she  of  all  people  !  Why,  she  goes  about  in 
her  meek,  sanctified  manner  distributing  pamphlets 
on  the  emancipation  of  woman,  and  yet  she  actually 
told  me  the  other  day  that,  of  course,  she  would  prefer 

211 


212  THE    ROMANCE   OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

to  have  only  ^ladies'  permitted  to  vote.  ^In  that 
case,  however/  she  added,  ^I  should  desire  to  restrict 
the  franchise  to  gentlemen,  also.'  Did  you  ever  in 
your  whole  life  hear  of  anything  so  absurd,  and  she 
really  meant  it.  She's  a  martyr,  and  filled  with  a  holy 
zeal  to  get  burned  or  racked.  But  it's  awful,  every  bit 
of  it.  Oh,  lift  me  up,  Ben !  Lift  me  up  !"  And  in  a 
postscript,  ^^What  does  the  General  say  to  you?  Aunt 
Mitty  has  told  the  General." 

The  General  had  said  nothing  to  me,  but  when  I 
drove  him  up  from  his  office  the  next  day,  he  invited 
me  to  dine  with  him,  and  talked  incessantly  through 
the  three  simple  courses  about  the  prospects  of  the 
National  Oil  Company. 

''So  you're  sweeping  the  whole  South?"  he  said. 

'^Yes,  Sam  has  made  a  big  thing  of  it.  We've 
knocked  out  everybody  else  in  the  oil  business  in  this 
part  of  the  world." 

''Mark  my  word,  then,  you've  been  cutting  into  the 
interest  of  the  oil  trust,  and  it  will  come  along  presently 
and  try  to  knock  you  out.  When  it  does,  Ben,  make  it 
pay,  make  it  pay." 

"Oh,  I'll  make  it  pay,"  I  answered.  "The  consoli- 
dated interests  may  sweep  out  the  independent  com- 
panies, but  they  can't  overturn  the  Great  South  Mid- 
land and  Atlantic  Railroad." 

"It's  the  road,  of  course,  that  has  made  such  ^ 
success  possible." 

"Yes,  it's  the  road  —  everything  is  the  road.  General." 

"And  to  think  that  when  I  got  control  of  it,  it  was 
bankrupt." 

Rising  from  the  table  he  took  my  arm,  and  limped 


IN   WHICH   MY   FORTUNES   RISE  213 

painfully  into  his  study;  where  he  lit  a  cigar  and  sank 
back  in  his  easy  chair. 

'^Look  here,  Ben,"  he  began  suddenly,  with  a  change 
of  tone,  ^^  what's  this  trouble  brewing  between  you  and 
Miss  Mitty  Bland?" 

''There's  no  trouble,  sir,  except  that  her  niece  has 
promised  to  marry  me." 

' '  Promised  to  marry  you,  eh  ?  Sally  Mickleborough  ? 
Are  you  sure  it's  Sally  Mickleborough?" 

''I'm  hardly  likely  to  be  mistaken,  General,  about 
the  identity  of  my  future  wife." 

"No,  I  suppose  you  ain't,"  he  admitted,  "but, 
good  Lord,  Ben,  how  did  you  make  her  do  it?" 

"I  didn't  make  her.  She  was  good  enough  to  do  it 
of  her  own  accord." 

"So  she  did  it  of  her  own  accord?  Well,  confound 
you,  boy,  how  did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  ask  her?" 

"That's  what  I  can't  answer.  General,  I  don't  believe 
it  ever  occurred  to  me  any  more  than  it  occurred  to  me 
to  fall  in  love  with  her." 

"You've  fallen  in  love  with  Sally  Mickleborough, 
Miss  Matoaca's  niece.    She  refused  George,  you  know?  " 

I  replied  that  I  didn't  know  it,  but  I  never  supposed 
that  she  would  engage  herself  to  two  men  at  the  same 
time. 

"And  she's  seriously  engaged  to  you?"  he  demanded, 
still  unconvinced.  "Are  you  precious  sure  she  isn't 
flirting?  Girls  will  flirt,  and  I  don't  reckon  you've 
had  much  experience  of  'em.  Why,  even  Miss  Mitty 
was  knowm  to  flirt  in  a  prim,  stiff-necked  fashion  in  her 
time,  and  as  for  Sarah  Bland,  they  say  she  promised  to 
marry  a  whole  regiment  before  the  battle  of  Seven 


214  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

Pines.  A  little  warning  beforehand  ainH  going  to  do 
any  harm,  Ben." 

^^I'm  much  obliged  to  you,  General,  but  I  don't  think 
in  this  case  it's  needed.     Sally  is  staunch  and  true." 

' '  Sally  ?  Do  you  call  her  '  Sally '  ?  It  used  to  be  the 
custom  to  address  the  lady  you  were  engaged  to  as 
'Miss  Sally'  up  to  the  day  of  the  marriage." 

I  laughed  and  shook  my  head.     ^'Oh,  we  move  fast !" 

^'Yes,  I'm  an  old  man,"  he  admitted  sadly,  ^^and  I 
was  brought  up  in  a  different  civilisation.  It's  funny, 
my  boy,  how  many  customs  were  swept  away  with  the 
institution  of  slavery." 

^^There'd  have  been  little  room  for  me  in  those  days." 

^'Oh,  you'd  have  got  into  some  places  quick  enough, 
but  you'd  never  have  crossed  the  Blands'  threshold  when 
they  lived  down  on  James  River.  There  isn't  much  of 
that  nonsense  left  now,  but  Miss  Mitty  has  got  it  and 
Theophilus  has  got  it;  and,  when  all's  said,  they 
might  have  something  considerably  worse.  Why,  look 
at  Miss  Matoaca.  When  I  first  saw  her  you'd  never 
have  imagined  there  was  an  idea  inside  her  head." 

''I  can  understand  that  she  must  have  been  very 
pretty." 

'^ Pretty?  She  was  as  beautiful  as  an  angel.  And 
to  think  of  her  distributing  those  damned  woman's 
rights  pamphlets  !  She  left  one  on  my  desk,"  he  added, 
sticking  out  his  lower  lip  like  a  crying  child,  and  wiping 
his  bloodshot  eyes  on  the  hem  of  his  silk  handkerchief. 
'^I  tell  you  if  she'd  had  a  husband  this  would  never 
have  happened." 

''We  can't  tell  —  it  might  have  been  worse,  if  she 
believes  it." 


IN   WHICH   MY   FORTUNES    RISE  215 

''Believes  what,  sir?'^  gasped  the  great  man,  enraged. 
'^  Believes  that  outlandish  Yankee  twaddle  about  a 
woman  wanting  any  rights  except  the  right  to  a  hus- 
band !  Do  you  think  she'd  be  running  round  loose  in 
this  crackbrained  way  if  she  had  a  home  she  could  stay 
in  and  a  husband  she  could  slave  over?  I  tell  you 
there's  not  a  woman  alive  that  ain't  happier  with  a  bad 
husband  than  with  none  at  all." 

''That's  a  comfortable  view,  at  any  rate.'^ 

"View?  It's  not  a  view,  it's  a  fact — and  what 
business  has  a  lady  got  with  a  view  anyway?  If 
Miss  Matoaca  hadn't  got  hold  of  those  heathenish 
views,  she'd  be  a  happy  wife  and  mother  this  very 
minute." 

"Does  it  follow.  General,  that  she  w^ould  have  been 
a  happy  one?"  I  asked  a  little  unfairly. 

"Of  course  it  follows.  Isn^t  every  wife  and  mother 
happy?  What  more  does  she  want  unless  she's  a 
Yankee  Abolitionist?  " 

"Who's  a  Yankee?"  enquired  young  George,  in  his 
amiable  voice  from  the  hall.  "I'm  surprised  to  hear 
you  calling  names  when  the  war  is  over,  sir." 

"I  wasn't  calling  names,  George.  I  was  just  saying 
that  Miss  Matoaca  Bland  was  a  Yankee.  Did  you  ever 
hear  of  a  Virginia 'lady  who  wasn't  content  to  be  what 
the  Lord  and  the  men  intended  her?  " 

"No,  sir,  I  never  did  —  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
Miss  Matoaca  has  managed  to  secure  a  greater  share^ 
of  your  attention  than  the  more  amenable  Virginia 
ladies." 

"Well,  isn't  it  a  sad  enough  sight  to  see  any  lady 
going  cracked?  "  retorted  the  General,  hotly;  "do  you 


216  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

knoW;  George,  that  Sally  Mickleborough  —  he  says  he's 
sure  it's  Sally  Mickleborough  —  has  promised  to  marry 
Ben  Starr?" 

^^Oh,  it's  Sally  all  right/'  responded  George,  ^^she 
has  just  told  me." 

He  came  over  and  held  out  his  hand,  smiling  pleas- 
antly, though  there  was  a  hurt  look  in  his  eyes. 

^'I  congratulate  you,  Ben,"  he  observed  in  his  easy, 
good-natured  way,  ^Hhe  best  man  comes  in  ahead." 

His  face  wore  the  frown,  not  from  temper,  but  from 
pain,  that  I  had  seen  on  it  at  the  club  when  his  favourite 
hunter  had  dropped  dead,  and  he  had  tried  to  appear 
indifferent.  He  was  a  superb  horseman,  a  typical  man 
about  town,  a  bit  of  a  sport,  also,  as  Dr.  Theophilus  said. 
I  knew  he  loved  Sally,  just  as  I  had  known  he  loved  his 
hunter,  by  a  sympathetic  reading  of  his  character  rather 
than  by  any  expression  of  regret  on  his  long,  highly 
coloured,  slightly  wooden  countenance,  with  its  set 
mouth  over  which  drooped  a  mustache  so  carefully 
trimmed  that  it  looked  almost  as  if  it  were  glued  on 
his  upper  lip. 

^^By  the  way,  uncle,  have  you  heard  the  last  news?" 
he  asked,  ^'Barclay  is  buying  all  the  A.  P.  &  C.  Stocli 
he  can  lay  hands  on.     It's  selling  at  — " 

'^Hello!  What's  that?  Barclay,  did  you  say?  1 
knew  it  was  coming,  and  that  he'd  spring  it.  Here^ 
Hatty,  give  me  my  cape,  I'm  going  back  to  the  office  !" 

^^  George,  George,  the  doctor  told  you  not  to  excite 
yourself,"  remonstrated  Miss  Hatty,  apj^earing  in  the 
doorway  with  a  glass  of  medicine  in  her  hand. 

''Excite  myself?  Pish  !  Tush  !"  retorted  the  Gen- 
eral, ''I  ain't  a  bit  more  excited  than  you  are  yourself. 


IN   WHICH   MY   FORTUNES   RISE  217 

Do  you  think  if  I  hadn't  had  a  cool  head  they'd  have 
made  me  president  of  the  South  MidLand?  But  I  tell 
you  Barclay's  trying  to  get  control  of  the  A.  P.  &  C, 
and  I'll  be  blamed  if  he  shall !  Do  you  want  him  to 
snatch  a  railroad  out  of  my  very  mouth,  madam?" 

By  this  time  he  had  got  into  his  cape  and  slouch  hat, 
turning  at  the  last  moment  to  swallow  Miss  Hatty'? 
dose  of  medicine  with  a  wry  mouth.  Then  with  one 
arm  in  George's  and  one  in  mine,  he  descended  the 
steps  and  limped  as  far  as  the  car  line  on  Main  Street. 

On  that  same  afternoon  I  walked  out  to  meet  Sally 
on  her  ride  in  one  of  the  country  roads  to  what  was 
called  ^Hhe  Pump  House,"  and  when  she  had  dis- 
mounted, we  strolled  together  along  the  little  path 
under  the  scarlet  buds  of  young  maples.  At  the  end 
of  the  path  there  was  a  rude  bench  placed  beside  the 
stream,  which  broke  from  the  dam  above  with  a 
sound  that  was  like  laughing  water.  The  grass  was 
powdered  with  small  spring  flowers,  and  overhead  a 
sycamore  drooped  its  silvery  branches  to  the  spark- 
ling waves.  Spring  was  in  the  air,  in  the  scarlet  buds 
of  maples,  in  the  song  of  birds,  in  the  warm  wind  that 
played  on  Sally's  flushed  cheek  and  lifted  a  loosened 
curl  on  her  forehead.  And  spring  was  in  my  heart,  too, 
as  I  sat  there  beside  her,  on  the  old  bench,  with  her 
hand  in  mine. 

'^You  will  marry  me  in  November,  Sally?" 

'^On  the  nineteenth  of  November,  as  I  promised. 
Aunt  Mitty  and  Aunt  Matoaca  have  forbidden  me  to 
mention  your  name  to  them,  so  I  shall  walk  with  you 
to  church  some  morning  —  to  old  Saint  John's,  I 
think,  Ben." 


218  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIX   MAN 

^'Then  may  God  punish  me  if  I  ever  fail  you/'  1 
answered. 

Her  look  softened.     ^^You  will  never  fail  me.'' 

^'You  will  trust  me  now  and  in  all  the  future?" 

^^Now  and  in  all  the  future." 

As  we  strolled  back  a  little  later  to  her  horse  that 
was  tethered  to  a  maple  on  the  roadside,  I  told  her  of 
the  success  of  the  National  Oil  Company  and  of  the 
possibility  that  I  might  some  day  be  a  rich  man. 

''As  things  go  in  the  South,  sweetheart,  I'm  a  rich 
man  now  for  my  years." 

^^I  am  glad  for  your  sake,  Ben,  but  I  have  never  ex- 
pected to  have  wealth,  you  know." 

^^All  the  same  I  want  you  to  have  it,  I  want  to  give 
it  to  you." 

^^Then  I'll  begin  to  love  it  for  your  sake  —  if  it  means 
that  to  you?" 

^^It  means  nothing  else.  But  what  do  you  think  it 
will  mean  to  j^our  aunts  next  November?" 

She  shook  her  head,  while  I  untethered  Dolly,  the 
sorrel  mare. 

^'They  haven't  a  particle  of  worldliness,  either  of 
them,  and  I  don't  believe  it  will  make  any  great  dif- 
ference if  we  have  millions.  Of  course  if  you  were, 
for  instance,  the  president  of  the  South  Midland  they 
w^ould  not  have  refused  to  receive  you,  but  they  would 
have  objected  quite  as  strongly  to  your  marrying  into 
the  family.  What  you  are  yourself  might  concern 
them  if  they  were  inviting  you  to  dinner,  but  when  it 
is  a  question  of  connecting  yourself  with  their  blood, 
it  is  what  your  father  was  that  affects  them.  I  really 
believe,"  she  finished  half  angrily,  half  humorously^ 


IN   WHICH   MY   FORTUNES    RISE  219 

''that  Aunt  Mitty  —  not  Aunt  Matoaca  —  would  hon- 
estly rather  I'd  marry  a  well-born  drunkard  or  libertine 
than  yoU;  whom  she  calls  'quite  an  extraordinary-look- 
ing 3^oung  man.'^' 

"Then  if  they  can  neither  be  cajoled  nor  bought,  I 
see  no  hope  for  them/'  I  replied,  laughing,  as  she 
sprang  from  my  hand  into  her  saddle. 

The  red  flame  of  the  maple  was  in  her  face  as  she 
looked  back  at  me.  "Everything  will  come  right, 
Ben,  if  we  only  love  enough,"  she  said. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    PRINCIPLES    OF   MISS   MATOACA 

When  I  walked  down  to  the  office  now,  I  began  to 
be  pointed  out  as  'Hhe  General's  wonderful  boy." 
Invitations  to  start  companies^  or  to  directorships  of 
innumerable  boards,  were  showered  upon  me,  and  ad- 
venturous promoters  of  vain  schemes  sought  desper- 
ately to  shelter  themselves  behind  my  growing  credit. 
Then,  in  the  following  October,  the  consolidated  oil 
interests  bought  out  my  business  at  my  own  price, 
and  I  awoke  one  glorious  morning  to  the  knowledge 
that  my  fortune  was  made. 

^^If  you're  going  to  swell,  Ben,  now's  the  time,'^ 
said  the  General,  ^'and  out  you  go.'' 

But  my  training  had  been  in  a  hard  school,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  month  he  had  ceased  to  enquire  in  the 
mornings  "if  my  hat  still  fitted  my  head." 

'^You'll  have  your  ups  and  downs,  Ben,  like  the 
rest  of  us,"  he  said,  ^^but  the  main  thing  is,  let  your 
fortunes  see-saw  as  they  may,  always  keep  your  eyes 
on  a  level.  By  the  way,  I  saw  Sally  Mickleborough 
last  night,  and  w^hen  I  asked  her  why  she  fell  in  love 
with  you,  she  replied  it  was  because  she  saw^  you  pushing 
a  wheel  up  a  hill.  Now  there's  a  woman  with  a  reason 
—  you'd  better  look  sharp,  or  she'll  begin  talking  poli- 
tics presently  like  her  Aunt  Matoaca.  What  do  you 
think  I  found  on  my  desk  this  morning  ?    A  pamphlet, 

220 


THE   PRINCIPLES   OF   MISS   MATOACA  221 

addressed  in  her  liandwTiting,  about  the  presidential 
election."  Then  his  tone  softened.  ''So  Sally's  going 
to  marry  you  in  spite  of  her  aunts  ?  Well,  she's  a  good 
girl,  a  brave  girl,  and  I'm  proud  of  her." 

When  I  went  home  to  supper,  I  was  to  have  a  dif- 
ferent opinion  from  Dr.  Theophilus. 

''I  saw  Sally  Mickleborough  to-day,  Ben,  when  I 
called  on  Miss  Matoaca,  —  [that  poor  lady  gets  flightier 
every  day,  she  left  a  pamphlet  here  this  morning 
about  the  presidential  election] —  and  the  girl  told  me 
in  the  few  minutes  I  saw  her  in  the  hall,  that  she  meant 
to  marry  you  next  month." 

''She  will  do  me  that  great  honour,  doctor.'^ 

"Well,  I  regret  it,  Ben ;  I  can't  conceal  from  you  that 
I  regret  it.  You're  a  good  boy,  and  I'm  proud  of  you, 
but  I  don't  like  to  see  young  folks  putting  themselves 
in  opposition  to  the  judgment  of  their  elders.  I'm 
an  orthodox  believer  in  the  claims  of  blood,  you  know." 

"And  is  there  nothing  to  be  said  for  the  claims  of 
love?" 

"The  claims  of  moonshine,  Ben,"  observed  Mrs. 
Clay  in  her  sharp  voice,  looking  up  from  a  pair  of  yarn 
socks  she  w^as  knitting  for  the  doctor;  ^'you  know  I'm 
fond  of  you,  but  when  you  begin  to  talk  of  the  claims 
of  love  driving  a  girl  to  break  with  her  family,  I  feel 
like  boxing  your  ears." 

"You  see,  Tina  is  a  cynic,"  remarked  Dr.  Theophilus, 
smiling,  "and  I  don't  doubt  that  she  has  her  excellent 
reasons,  as  usual ;  most  cynics  have.  A  woman,  how- 
ever, has  got  to  believe  in  love  to  the  point  of  lunacy 
or  become  a  scoffer.  What  I  contend,  now,  is  that 
love  isn't  moonshine,  but  that  however  solid  a  thing 


222  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

it  may  be,  it  isn't,  after  all,  as  solid  as  one's  duty  to 
one's  family.'^ 

^^Of  course  I  can't  argue  with  you,  doctor.  I  know 
little  of  the  unit  you  call  'the  family';  but  I  should 
think  the  first  duty  of  the  family  would  be  to  consider 
the  happiness  of  the  individual/^ 

^^And  do  you  think,  Ben,  that  you  are  the  only  per- 
son who  is  considering  Sally^s  happiness  ?'' 

^^I  know^  that  I  am  considering  it ;  for  the  rest  I  can't 
«peak/' 

''I  firmly  believe,''  broke  in  iVIrs.  Clay,  ''that  Sally's 
behaviour  has  helped  to  drive  Matoaca  Bland  clean  out 
of  her  wdts.  She's  actually  sent  me  one  of  her  leaflets, 
■ —  what  do  you  think  of  that,  Theophilus  ?  —  to  me, 
the  most  refined  and  retiring  w^oman  on  earth." 

''What  I'd  say,  Tina,  is  that  you  aren't  half  as  refined 
and  retiring  as  Miss  Matoaca,"  chuckled  the  doctor. 

"That  is  merely  the  way  she  dresses,"  rejoined  Mrs. 
Clay  stiffly ;  "it  is  her  poke  bonnet  and  black  silk  mantle 
that  deceives  you.  As  for  me,  I  can  call  no  woman 
truly  refined  who  does  not  naturally  avoid  the  society 
of  men." 

"Well,  Tina,  I  had  a  notion  that  all  of  you  were 
pretty  fond  of  it,  when  it  comes  to  that." 

"Not  of  the  society  of  men,  Theophilus,  but  of  the 
select  attentions  of  gentlemen." 

"I'm  not  taking  up  for  Miss  Matoaca,"  pursued  the 
good  man;  "I  can't  conscientiously  do  that,  and  I'm 
more  concerned  at  this  minute  about  the  marriage  of 
Ben  and  Sally.  You  may  smile  at  me  as  superstitious, 
if  you  please,  but  I  never  yet  saw  a  marriage  turn  out 
happily  that  was  made  in  defiance  of  family  feeling." 


THE   PRINCIPLES  OF   MISS    MATOACA  223 

As  I  could  make  no  reply  to  this,  except  to  put  for- 
ward a  second  time  what  Mrs.  Clay  had  tartly  called 
^'the  claims  of  moonshine/'  I  bade  the  doctor  good- 
night, and  going  upstairs  to  my  room,  sat  down  beside 
the  small  square  window,  which  gave  on  the  garden, 
with  its  miniature  box  borders  and  its  single  clipped 
yew^-tree,  over  w^hich  a  young  moon  was  rising.  ^^A 
mixture  of  a  fighter  and  a  dreamer,"  the  old  man  had 
once  called  me,  and  it  seemed  to  me  now  that  some- 
thing apart  from  the  mere  business  of  living  and  the 
alert  man  of  affairs,  brooded  in  me  over  the  young 
moon  and  the  yew-tree. 

A  letter  from  Sally  had  reached  me  a  few  hours  be- 
fore, and  taking  it  from  my  pocket,  I  turned  to  the 
lamp  and  read  it  for  the  sixth  time  with  a  throbbing 
heart. 

^^  You  ask  me  if  I  am  happy,  dearest,"  she  wTote, 
^^and  I  answer  that  I  am  happy,  with  a  still,  deep  hap- 
piness, over  which  a  hundred  troubles  and  cares  ripple 
like  shadows  on  a  lake.  But  oh !  poor  Aunt  Mitty, 
with  her  silent  hurt  pride  in  her  face,  and  poor  Aunt 
Matoaca,  with  the  strained,  unnatural  brightness  in 
her  eyes,  and  her  cheeks  so  like  rose  leaves  that  have 
crumpled.  Oh,  Ben,  I  believe  Aunt  Matoaca  is  living 
over  again  her  own  romance,  and  it  breaks  my  heart. 
Last  night  I  went  into  her  room,  and  found  her  with  her 
old  yellowed  wedding  veil  and  orange  blossoms  laid 
out  on  the  bed.  She  tried  to  pretend  that  she  was 
straightening  her  cedar  chests,  but  she  looked  so  little 
and  pitiable  —  if  you  could  only  have  seen  her !  I 
wonder  what  she  would  be  now  if  the  General  had  been 
a  man  like  you?     How  grateful  I  am,  how  profoundly 


224  THE    KOMAIs^CE    OF    A   PLAIN    MAN 

thankful  with  my  whole  heart  that  I  am  marrying  a 
man  that  I  can  trust  !'^ 

^^That  I  can  trust  !'^  Her  words  rang  in  my  ears, 
and  I  heard  them  again,  clear  and  strong,  the  next 
morning,  when  I  met  Miss  Matoaca  as  I  was  on  my  way 
to  my  office.  She  was  coming  slowly  up  Franklin 
Street,  her  arms  filled  with  packages,  and  when  she 
recognised  me,  with  a  shy,  startled  movement  to  turn 
aside,  a  number  of  leaflets  fluttered  from  her  grasp  to 
the  pavement  between  us.  When  I  stooped  and  gath- 
ered them  up,  her  face,  under  the  old-fashioned  poke 
bonnet,  was  brought  close  to  my  eyes,  and  I  saw  that 
she  looked  wan  and  pinched,  and  that  her  bright  brown 
eyes  were  shining  as  if  from  fever. 

^^Mr.  Starr,''  she  said,  straightening  her  thin  little 
figure  as  I  handed  her  the  leaflets,  ^'IVe  wanted  for 
some  time  to  speak  a  word  to  you  on  the  subject  of 
my  niece  —  Miss  Mickleborough.'' 

''Yes,  Miss  Matoaca.'' 

''My  sister  Mitty  thought  it  better  that  I  should 
refrain  from  doing  so,  and  upon  such  matters  she  has 
excellent  judgment.  It  is  my  habit,  indeed,  to  yield 
to  her  opinion  in  everything  except  a  question  of  con- 
science." 

"Yes?"  for  again  she  had  paused.  "It  is  very  kind 
of  you,"  I  added. 

"I  do  not  mean  it  for  kindness,  Mr.  Starr.  My 
niece  is  very  dear  to  me;  and  since  poor  Sarah's 
unfortunate  experience,  we  have  felt  more  strongly, 
if  possible,  about  unequal  marriages.  I  know  that 
you  are  a  most  remarkable  young  man,  but  I  do  not 
feel  that  you  are  in  any  way  suited  to  make  the  hap- 
piness of  our  niece  —  Miss  Mickleborough  — " 


THE   PRINCIPLES   OF   MISS   MATOACA  225 

'^I  am  sorry,  Miss  Matoaca,  but  Miss  Mickleborough 
thinks  differently." 

^' Young  people  are  rarely  the  best  judges  in  such 
matters,  Mr.  Starr.'' 

'^But  do  you  think  their  elders  can  judge  for  them?^' 

^'If  they  have  had  experience  —  yes." 

"Ah,  Miss  Matoaca,  does  our  own  experience  ever 
teach  us  to  understand  the  experience  of  others?" 

"The  Blands  have  never  needed  to  be  taught," 
she  returned  with  pride,  "that  the  claims  of  the  family 
are  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  —  to  a  sentiment.  Except 
in  the  case  of  poor  Sarah  there  has  never  been  a  mes- 
alliance in  our  history.  We  have  always  put  one  thing 
above  the  consideration  of  our  blood,  and  that  is  —  a 
principle.  If  it  were  a  question  of  conscience,  however 
painful  it  might  be  to  me,  I  should  uphold  my  niece 
in  her  opposition  to  my  sister  Mitty.  I  myself  have 
opposed  her  for  a  matter  of  principle." 

"I  am  aware  of  it,  Miss  Matoaca." 

Her  withered  cheeks  w^ere  tinged  with  a  delicate  rose, 
and  I  could  almost  see  the  working  of  her  long,  narrow 
mind  behind  her  long,  narrow  face. 

"I  should  like  to  leave  a  few  of  these  leaflets  with  you, 
Mr.  Starr,"  she  said. 

A  minute  afterwards,  when  she  had  moved  on  with 
her  meek,  slow  walk,  I  was  left  standing  on  the  pave- 
ment with  her  suffrage  pamphlets  fluttering  in  my  hand. 
Stuffing  them  hurriedly  into  my  pocket,  I  went  on  to 
the  office,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  existence  of  any  prin- 
ciple on  earth  except  the  one  underlying  the  immediate 
expansion  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic 
Railroad. 

Q 


226  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

A  fortnight  later  I  heard  that  Miss  Matoaca  had 
begun  writing  letters  to  the  "Richmond  Herald'';  and 
I  remembered,  with  an  easy  masculine  complacency, 
the  pamphlets  I  had  thrown  into  the  waste  basket 
beside  the  General's  desk.  The  presidential  election, 
with  its  usual  upheaval  of  the  business  world,  had  ar- 
rived; and  that  timid  little  Miss  Matoaca  should  have 
intruded  herself  into  the  affairs  of  the  nation  did  not 
occur  to  me  as  possible,  until  the  General  informed  me, 
while  w^e  watched  a  Democratic  procession  one  after- 
noon, that  Miss  Mitty  had  come  to  him  the  day  before 
in  tears  over  the  impropriety  of  her  sister's  conduct. 

*^She  begged  me  to  remonstrate  with  Miss  Matoaca," 
he  pursued,  '^and  by  George,  I  promised  her  that  I 
would.  There's  one  thing,  Ben,  I've  never  been  able 
to  stand,  and  that's  the  sight  of  a  woman  in  tears. 
Of  course  when  you've  made  'em  cry  yourself,  it  is 
different;  but  to  have  a  lady  coming  to  you  weeping 
over  somebody  else  —  and  a  lady  like  Miss  Mitty  — 
well,  I  honestly  believe  if  she'd  requested  me  to  give 
her  my  skin,  I'd  have  tried  to  get  out  of  it  just  to  oblige 
her." 

"Did  you  go  to  Miss  Matoaca?"  I  asked,  for  the 
picture  of  the  General  lecturing  his  old  love  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  proprieties  had  caught  my  attention  even 
in  the  midst  of  a  large  Democratic  procession  that  was 
marching  along  the  street.  While  he  rambled  on  in 
his  breaking  voice,  which  had  begun  to  grow  weak 
and  old,  I  gazed  over  his  head  at  the  political  banners 
with  their  familiar,  jesting  inscriptions. 

"I  declare,  Ben,  I'd  rather  have  swallowed  a  dose  of 
medicine,"  he  went  on;  "you  see  I  used  to  know  Miss 


THE   PRINCIPLES   OF   MISS   MATOACA  227 

Matoaca  very  well  forty  years  ago  —  I  reckon  you've 
heard  of  it.  We  were  engaged  to  be  married,  and  it 
was  broken  off  because  of  some  woman's  rights  non- 
sense she'd  got  in  her  head." 

^^Well;  it's  hard  to  imagine  your  interview  of  yester- 
day." 

"There  wasn't  any  interview.  I  went  to  her  and  put 
it  as  mildly  as  I  could.  ^Miss  Matoaca/  I  said,  ^  I'm 
sorr}^  to  hear  you've  gone  cracked.'" 

^^\nd  how  did  she  take  it?" 

^^^Do  you  mean  my  heart  or  my  head,  General?' 
she  asked  —  she  had  always  plenty  of  spirit,  had 
Matoaca,  for  all  her  soft  looks.  ^It's  your  head,'  I 
answered.  ^  Lord  knows  I'm  not  casting  any  reflec- 
tions on  the  rest  of  you.'  ^Then  it  has  fared  better  than 
my  heart.  General,'  she  replied,  ^for  that  was  broken.' 
She  looked  kind  of  wild,  Ben,  as  she  said  it.  I  don't 
know  what  she  was  talking  about,  I  declare  on  my 
honour  I  don't !" 

A  cheer  went  up  from  the  procession,  and  an  expres- 
sion of  eager  curiosity  came  into  his  face. 

^^Can  you  read  that  inscription,  Ben?  My  eyes 
ain't  so  good  as  they  used  to  be." 

''It's  some  campaign  joke.  So  your  lecture  wasn't 
quite  a  success?" 

''It  would  have  been  if  she'd  listened  to  reason." 

"But  she  did  not,  I  presume?" 

"She  never  listened  to  it  in  her  life.  If  she  had,  she 
wouldn't  be  a  poor  miserable  old  maid  at  this  moment. 
What's  that  coming  they're  making  such  a  noise  about  ? 
My  God,  Ben,  if  it  ain't  Matoaca  herself  !" 

It  was  Matoaca,  and  the  breathless  horror  in  the 


228  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

General's  voice  passed  into  my  own  mind  as  I  looked. 
There  she  was,  in  her  poke  bonnet  and  her  black  silk 
mantle,  walking  primly  at  the  straggling  end  of  the 
procession,  among  a  crowd  of  hooting  small  boys  and 
gaping  negroes.  Her  eyes,  very  wide  and  bright,  like 
the  eyes  of  one  who  is  mentally  deranged,  were  fixed 
straight  ahead,  over  the  lines  of  men  marching  in  front 
of  her,  on  the  blue  sky  above  the  church  steeples. 
Under  her  poke  bonnet  I  saw  her  meekly  parted  hair 
and  her  faded  cheeks,  flushed  now  with  a  hectic  colour. 
In  one  neatly  gloved  hand  her  silk  skirt  was  held  primly ; 
in  the  other  she  carried  a  little  white  silk  flag,  on  which 
the  staring  gold  letters  were  lost  in  the  rippling  folds. 
With  her  eyes  on  the  sky  and  her  feet  in  the  dust,  she 
marched,  a  prim,  ladylike  figure,  an  inspired  spinster, 
oblivious  alike  of  the  hooting  small  boys  and  the  half- 
compassionate,  half-scofhng  gazers  upon  the  pave- 
ment. 

^^ She's  crazy,  Ben,"  said  the  General,  and  his  voice 
broke  with  a  sob. 

For  a  minute,  as  dazed  as  he,  I  stared  blankly  at  the 
little  figure  with  the  white  flag.  Then  bewilderment 
gave  place  before  the  call  to  action,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  that  I  saw  Sally  there  in  Miss  Matoaca,  as  I  had 
seen  her  in  the  rising  moon  over  the  clipped  yew,  and 
in  the  whirlpool  of  the  stock  market.  Leaving  my 
place  at  the  General's  side,  I  descended  the  steps  at  a 
bound,  and  made  my  way  through  the  jostling,  noisy 
crowd  to  the  little  lady  in  its  midst. 

''Miss  Matoaca!"  I  said. 

For  the  first  time  her  eyes  left  the  sky,  and  as  she 
looked  down,  the  consciousness  of  her  situation  entered 


THE   PRINCIPLES    OF   MISS    MATOACA  229 

into  her  strained  bright  eyes.  Her  composure  was  lost 
in  a  birdlike,  palpitating  movement  of  terror. 

''I  —  I  am  going  as  far  as  the  Square,  Mr.  Starr/' 
she  replied,  as  if  she  were  repeating  by  rote  a  phrase 
in  a  strange  tongue. 

At  my  approach  the  ridicule,  somewhat  subdued  by 
the  sense  of  her  helplessness,  broke  suddenly  loose. 
Bending  over  I  offered  her  my  arm,  my  head  still 
uncovered.  As  the  hand  holding  the  whit€  flag 
drooped  from  exhaustion,  I  took  it,  with  the  banner, 
into  my  own. 

'^Then  111  go  with  you.  Miss  Matoaca,'^  I  responded. 

We  started  on,  took  a  few  measured  paces  in  the  line 
of  march,  and  then  her  strength  failing  her,  she  sank 
back,  with  a  pathetic  moan  of  weariness,  into  my  arms. 
Lifting  her  like  a  child  I  carried  her  out  of  the  street 
and  up  the  steps  into  the  General's  office.  Turning  at 
a  touch  a5  I  entered  the  room,  I  saw  that  Sally  was  at 
my  side. 

^^I've  sent  for  Dr.  Theophilus,''  she  said.  ^'There, 
put  her  on  the  lounge." 

Kneeling  on  the  floor  she  began  bathing  Miss  Ma- 
toaca's  forehead  with  water  which  somebody  had 
brought.  The  General,  his  eyes  very  red  and  blood- 
shot and  his  lower  lip  fallen  into  a  senile  droop,  was 
trying  vainly  to  fan  her  with  his  pocket-handkerchief. 

'^We  have  always  feared  this  would  happen,"  said 
Sally,  very  quiet  and  pale. 

'^She  was  talking  to  me  yesterday  about  her  heart," 
returned  the  General,  '^and  I  didn't  know  what  she 
meant." 

He  bent  over,  fanning  her  more  violently  with  his 


230  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

silk  handkerchief,  and  on  the  lounge  beneath,  Miss 
Matoaca  lay,  very  prim  and  maidenly,  with  her  skirt 
folded  modestly  about  her  ankles. 

Dr.  Theophilus,  coming  in  with  the  messenger,  bent 
over  her  for  a  long  minute. 

^^I  always  thought  her  sense  of  honour  would  kill 
her,''  he  said  at  last  as  he  looked  up. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SHOWS   THE    TRIUMPH    OF    LOVE 

A  WEEK  after  Miss  Matoaca's  funeral,  Sally  met  me 
in  one  of  the  secluded  streets  by  the  Capitol  Square, 
and  we  walked  slowly  up  and  down  for  an  hour  in  the 
Xovember  sunshine.  In  her  black  clothes  she  appeared 
to  have  bloomed  into  a  brighter  beauty,  a  richer  colour, 

^'Why  can't  I  believe,  Sally,  that  you  will  really 
marry  me  a  week  from  to-day?'^ 

^'A  week  from  to-dav.  Just  you  and  I  in  old  Saint 
John's/' 

'Mnd  Miss  Mitty,  will  she  not  come  with  you?" 

^^She  refuses  to  let  me  speak  your  name  to  her.  It 
would  be  hard  to  leave  her,  Ben,  if  —  if  she  hadn't  been 
so  bitter  and  stern  to  me  for  the  last  year.  I  live  in  the 
same  house  with  her  and  see  nothing  of  her." 

''I  thought  Miss  Matoaca's  death  might  have  softened 
her." 

''Xothing  will  soften  her.  Aunt  Matoaca's  death 
has  hurt  her  terribly,  I  know,  but  —  and  this  is  a 
dreadful  thing  to  say  —  I  believe  it  has  hurt  her  pride 
more  than  her  heart.  If  the  poor  dear  had  died  quietly 
in  her  bed,  with  her  prayer-book  on  the  counterpane, 
Aunt  Mitty  would  have  grieved  for  her  in  an  entirely 
different  way.  She  lives  in  a  kind  of  stained-glass 
seclusion,  and  anything  outside  of  that  seems  to  her 
vulgar  —  even  emotion." 

231 


232  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^How  I  must  have  startled  her." 

'^You  startled  her  so  that  she  has  never  had  courage 
to  face  the  effect.  Think  what  it  must  mean  to  a  per- 
son who  has  lived  sixty-five  years  in  an  atmosphere  of 
stained  glass  to  be  dragged  outside  and  made  to  look 
at  the  great  common  sun  — '' 

A  squirrel,  running  out  from  between  the  iron  railing 
surrounding  the  square,  crossed  the  pavement  and 
then  sat  erect  in  front  of  us,  his  bushy  tail  waving  like 
a  brush  over  his  ears.  While  she  was  bending  over  to 
speak  to  it,  the  Bland  surrey  turned  the  corner  at  a 
rapid  pace,  and  I  saw  the  figure  of  Miss  Mitty,  swathed 
heavily  in  black,  sitting  very  stiff  and  upright  behind 
old  Shadrach.  As  she  caught  sight  of  us,  she  leaned 
slightly  forward,  and  in  obedience  to  her  order,  the 
carriage  stopped  the  next  instant  beside  the  pave- 
ment. 

^'Sally!"  she  called,  and  there  was  no  hint  in  her 
manner  that  she  was  aware  of  my  presence. 

''Yes,  Aunt  Mitty.''  The  girl  had  straightened  her- 
self, and  stood  calmly  and  without  embarrassment 
at  my  side. 

''I  should  like  you  to  come  with  me  to  Hollywood/* 

''Yes,  Aunt  Mitty." 

Pausing  for  an  instant,  she  gave  me  her  hand.  ' '  Until 
Wednesday,  Ben,"  she  said  in  a  low,  clear  voice,  and 
then  entering  the  surrey,  she  took  her  place  under  the 
fur  robe  and  was  driven  away. 

The  week  dragged  by  like  a  century,  and  on  Wednes- 
day morning,  when  I  got  up  and  opened  my  shutters,  I 
found  that  our  wedding-day  had  begun  in  a  slow 
autumnal  rain.     A  thick  tent  of  clouds  stretched  over- 


SHOWS   THE   TRIUMPH    OF   LOVE  233 

head,  and  the  miniature  box  in  the  garden  looked  like 
flutings  of  crape  on  the  pebbled  walk,  which  had  been 
washed  clean  and  glistening  during  the  night.  The 
clipped  yew  stood  dark  and  sombre  as  a  solitary 
mourner  among  the  blossomless  rose-bushes. 

At  breakfast  Mrs.  Clay  poured  my  coffee  with  a 
rigid  hand  and  an  averted  face,  and  Dr.  Theophilus 
appeared  to  find  difficulty  in  keeping  up  his  cheerful 
morning  comments. 

'^111  miss  you,  Ben,  my  boy,^'  he  remarked,  as  he  rose 
from  the  table ;  ^4t's  a  sad  day  for  me  when  I  lose  you." 

^^I  hate  to  lose  you,  doctor,  but  I  shan^t,  after  all,  be 
far  off.  I've  bought  a  house,  as  you  know,  beyond 
the  Park  in  Franklin  Street. '^ 

^^The  one  Jack  Montgomery  used  to  live  in  before 
he  lost  his  money  —  yes,  it  is  a  fine  place.  Well,  you 
have  my  best  wishes,  Ben,  whatever  comes ;  you  may 
be  sure  of  that.  I  hope  you  and  Sally  will  have  every 
happiness.'' 

He  shook  my  hand  in  his  hearty  grasp  before  going 
into  his  little  office,  and  the  next  minute  I  went  out 
into  the  rain,  and  walked  down  for  a  few  words  with 
the  General,  before  I  met  Sally  under  the  big  sycamore 
at  the  side  gate.  I  had  waited  for  her  but  a  little  while 
when  she  came  out  under  an  umbrella  held  by  Aunt 
Euphronasia,  who  was  to  accompany  us  on  our  journey 
South  in  the  General's  private  car.  As  she  entered  the 
carriage,  I  saw  that  she  wore  a  white  dress  under  her 
long  black  cloak. 

^^ Mammy  wouldn't  let  me  be  married  in  black,"  she 
said ;  ^^she  says  it  means  death  or  a  bad  husband." 

^^Dar  ain'  gwine  be  a  bad  husband  fur  dish  yer  chile," 


234  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

grumbled  the  old  woman,  who  was  evidently  full  of 
gloomy  forebodings,  "  csize  she  ain'  built  wid  de  kinder 
spine,  suh,  dat  bends  easy." 

''There'll  be  nobody  at  church?"  asked  Sally. 

''Only  the  General,  and  I  suppose  the  sexton." 

"I  am  glad."  She  leaned  forward,  we  clasped  hands, 
and  I  saw  that  the  eyes  she  lifted  to  mine  were  starry 
and  expectant,  as  they  had  been  that  day,  so  many 
years  ago,  when  she  stood  between  the  gate  and  the 
bed  of  geraniums  in  the  General's  yard. 

The  carriage  rolled  softly  over  the  soaking  streets, 
and  above  the  sound  of  the  wheels  I  heard  the  patter  of 
the  rain  on  the  dead  leaves  in  the  gutters.  I  can  see 
still  a  wet  sparrow  or  two  that  fluttered  down  from 
the  bared  branches,  and  the  negro  maid  sweeping  the 
water  from  the  steps  in  front  of  the  doctor's  house. 
There  was  no  wind,  and  the  rain  fell  in  straight  elon- 
gated drops  like  a  shower  of  silvery  pine-needles.  The 
mixture  of  a  fighter  and  a  dreamer  !  On  my  wedding- 
day,  as  I  sat  beside  the  woman  I  loved,  approaching 
the  fulfilment  of  my  desire,  I  was  conscious  of  a  curious 
gravity,  of  almost  a  feeling  of  sadness.  The  stillness 
without,  intensified  by  the  slow,  soft  fall  of  the  rain  on 
the  dead  leaves,  seemed  not  detached,  but  at  one  with 
the  inner  stillness  which  possessed  alike  my  heart  and 
my  brain.  I,  the  man  of  action,  the  embodiment  of 
worldly  success,  was  awed  by  the  very  intensity  of  my 
love,  which  added  a  throb  of  apprehension  to  the 
supreme  moment  of  its  fulfilment. 

The  carriage  crawled  up  the  long  hill,  and  stopped 
before  the  steps  leading  to  the  churchyard  of  Saint 
John's.     Like  a  sombre  omen  up  went  the  umbrella  in 


SHOWS    THE    TRIUMPH    OF    LOVE  235 

the  hands  of  Aunt  Euphronasia;  and  as  I  led  Sally 
across  the  pavement  to  the  General,  who  stood  waiting 
under  the  dripping  maples  and  sycamores,  I  saw  that 
she  was  very  pale,  and  that  her  lips  trembled  when  she 
smiled  back  at  me.  With  her  arm  in  the  General's, 
she  passed  before  me  up  the  walk  to  the  church  door, 
while  Aunt  Euphronasia  and  I  followed  under  the  same 
umbrella  a  short  way  behind. 

At  the  door  the  minister  met  us  with  outstretched 
hands,  for  he  had  known  us  from  childhood  ;  and  when 
Aunt  Euphronasia  had  removed  the  bride's  moist 
cloak,  Sally  joined  me  before  the  altar,  in  the  square  of 
faint  light  that  fell  from  the  windows.  The  interior 
of  the  church  was  very  dim,  so  dim  that  her  white 
dress  and  the  minister's  gown  seemed  the  only  patches 
of  high  light  in  the  obscurity.  Through  the  window  I 
could  see  the  wet  silvery  boughs  of  a  sycamore,  and,  I 
remember  still,  as  if  it  had  been  illuminated  upon  my 
brain,  a  single  bronzed  leaf  that  writhed  and  twisted 
at  the  end  of  a  slender  branch.  Never  in  my  life  had 
my  mind  been  so  awake  to  trivial  impressions,  so  acutely 
aware  of  the  external  world,  so  perfectly  unable  to  real- 
ise the  profound  significance  of  the  words  I  uttered. 
The  sound  of  the  soft  rain  on  the  graves  outside  was  in 
my  ears,  and  instead  of  my  marriage,  I  found  myself 
thinking  of  the  day  I  had  seen  Sally  dancing  toward  me 
in  her  red  shoes,  over  the  coloured  leaves.  In  those 
few  minutes,  which  changed  the  course  of  our  two 
lives,  it  was  as  if  I  myself  —  the  man  that  men  knew 
—  had  been  present  only  in  a  dream. 

When  it  was  over,  the  General  kissed  Sally,  and  wiped 
his  eyes  on  his  silk  handkerchief. 


236  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

^^ You're  a  brave  girl^  my  dear,  and  I'm  proud  of 
you/'  he  said;  ^^you've  got  your  mother's  heart  and 
your  father's  fighting  blood,  and  that's  a  good  blend- 
ing." 

^'I  wish  the  sun  had  shone  on  you/^  observed  the 
old  minister,  while  I  helped  her  into  her  cloak;  ^'but 
we  Christians  can't  afford  to  waste  regret  on  heathen 
superstitions.  I  married  your  mother/'  he  added,  as 
if  there  were  possible  comfort  in  a  proof  of  the  futility 
of  omens,  ^^on  a  cloudless  morning  in  June." 

Sally  shivered,  and  glanced  across  the  churchyard, 
where  the  water  dripped  from  the  bared  trees  on  the 
graves  that  were  covered  thickly  ^dth  sodden  leaves. 

^'The  sun  may  welcome  us  home,"  she  replied,  with 
an  effort  to  be  cheerful;  '^we  shall  be  back  again  in  a 
fortnight." 

^^And  you  go  South?"  asked  the  minister  ner- 
vously, hke  a  man  who  tries  to  make  conversation  be- 
cause his  professional  duty  requires  it  of  him.  Then 
the  umbrella  went  up  again,  and  after  a  good-by  to 
the  General,  we  started  together  down  the  walk,  with 
Aunt  Euphronasia  following  close  as  a  shadow. 

^'The  rain  does  not  sadden  you,  sweetheart?" 

'^It  saddens  me,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  I  am 
not  happy." 

^^And  you  would  do  it  over  again?  " 

^^I  would  do  it  over  until  —  until  the  last  hour  of  my 
life." 

''Oh,  Sally,  Sally,  if  I  were  only  sure  that  I  was 
worthy." 

A  light  broke  in  her  face,  and  as  she  looked  up  at  me, 
I  bent  over  and  kissed  her  under  the  leafless  trees. 


CHAPTER  XX 

IN   WHICH   SOCIETY   RECEIVES   US 

It  was  a  bright  December  evening  when  we  returned 
to  Richmond,  and  drove  through  the  frosty  air  to  our 
new  home.  The  house  was  large  and  modern,  with  a 
hideous  brown  stone  front,  and  at  the  top  of  the  brown 
stone  steps  several  girl  friends  of  Sally's  were  waiting 
to  receive  us.  Beyond  them,  in  the  brilliantly  lighted 
hall,  I  saw  masses  of  palms  and  roses  under  the  oak 
staircase. 

^^Oh,  you  bad  Sally,  not  even  to  ask  us  to  your  wed- 
ding. And  you  know  how  we  adore  one!''  cried  a 
handsome,  dark  girl  in  a  riding  habit,  named  Bonny 
Page.  ^'How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Starr?  We're  to  call 
you  'Ben'  now  because  you've  married  our  cousin." 

I  made  some  brief  response,  and  while  I  spoke,  I  felt 
again  the  old  sense  of  embarrassment,  of  strangeness 
in  ni}^  surroundings,  that  always  came  upon  me  in  a 
gathering  of  women  —  especially  of  girls.  With  Sally 
I  never  forgot  that  I  was  a  strong  man,  —  with  Bonny 
Page  I  remembered  only  that  I  was  a  plain  one.  As 
she  stood  there,  with  her  arm  about  Sally,  and  her  black 
eyes  dancing  with  fun,  she  looked  the  incarnate  spirit 
of  mischief,  —  and  beside  the  spirit  of  mischief  I  felt 
decidedly  heavy.  She  was  a  tall,  splendid  girl,  with  a 
beautiful  figure,  —  the  belle  of  Richmond  and  the  best 

*?37 


238  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

horsewoman  of  the  state.  I  had  seen  her  take  a  jump 
that  had  brought  my  heart  to  my  throat,  and  come 
down  on  the  other  side  with  a  laugh.  A  little  dazzling, 
a  little  cold,  fine,  quick,  generous  to  her  friends,  and 
merciless  to  her  lovers,  I  had  wondered  often  what 
subtle  sympathy  had  knit  Sally  and  herself  so  closely 
together. 

'^  You'd  always  promised  that  I  should  be  your  brides- 
maid,^' she  remarked  reproachfully;  ''she's  hurt  us 
dreadfully,  hasn't  she,  Bessy?  And  it's  very  forgiving 
of  us  to  warm  her  house  and  have  her  dinner  ready  for 
her." 

Bessy,  the  little  heroine  of  the  azalea  wreath  and  my 
first  party,  murmured  shyly  that  she  hoped  the  fur- 
niture was  placed  right  and  that  the  dinner  would  be 
good. 

''Oh,  you  darlings,  it's  too  sweet  of  you  !"  said  Sally, 
entering  the  drawing-room,  amid  palms  and  roses, 
with  an  arm  about  the  neck  of  each.  "You  know, 
don't  you,'^  she  went  on,  "that  poor  Aunt  Mitty's 
not  coming  kept  me  from  having  even  you?  How 
is  she.  Bonny?     0  Bonny,  she  won't  speak  to  me.^' 

Immediateh^  she  was  clasped  in  Bonny's  arms,  w^here 
she  shed  a  few  tears  on  Bonny's  handsome  shoulder. 

"She'll  grow  used  to  it,"  said  little  Bessy;  "but,  Sally, 
how  did  you  have  the  courage?'^ 

"Ask  Bonny  how  she  had  the  courage  to  take  that 
five-foot  jump." 

"I  took  it  mth  my  teeth  set  and  my  eyes  shut,"  said 
Bonny. 

"W  ell,  that's  how  I  took  Ben,  with  my  teeth  set  and 
my  eyes  shut  tight." 


IX    WHICH    SOCIETY    RECEIVES    US  23C> 

^And  I  came  down  with  a  laugh/'  added  Bonny. 

^^So  did  I  —  I  came  down  with  a  laugh.  Oh,  you 
dears,  how  lovely  the  house  looks !  Here  are  all  the 
bridal  roses  that  I  missed  and  you've  remembered.'' 

''There're  blue  roses  in  your  room,"  said  Bonny;  ^'I 
mean  on  the  chintz  and  on  the  paper." 

•'How  can  I  help  being  happy,  when  I  have  blue 
roses.  Bonny?  Aren't  blue  roses  an  emblem  of  the 
impossible  achieved?" 

Bonny's  dancing  black  eyes  were  on  me,  and  I  read 
in  them  plainly  the  thought,  ^^Yes,  I'm  going  to  be 
nice  to  you  because  Sally  has  married  you,  and  Sally's 
my  cousin  —  even  if  I  can't  understand  how  she  came 
to  do  it." 

No,  she  couldn't  understand,  and  she  never  would, 
this  I  read  also.  The  man  that  she  saw  and  the  man 
that  Sally  knew  were  two  different  persons,  drawing 
life  from  two  different  sources  of  sympathy.  To  her  I 
was  still,  and  would  always  be,  the  ^'magnificent  ani- 
mal, "  —  a  creature  of  good  muscle  and  sinew,  ^ith  an 
honest  eye,  doubtless,  and  clean  hands,  but  lacking  in 
the  finer  qualities  of  jDerson  and  manner  that  must 
appeal  to  her  taste.  Where  Sally  beheld  power,  and 
admired.  Bonny  Page  saw  only  roughness,  and  won- 
dered. 

Presently,  they  led  her  away,  and  I  heard  their 
merry  voices  floating  down  from  the  bedrooms  above. 
The  pink  fight  of  the  candles  on  the  dinner  table  in  the 
room  beyond,  the  vague,  sweet  scent  of  the  roses,  and 
the  warmth  of  the  wood  fire  burning  on  the  andirons, 
seemed  to  grow  faint  and  distant,  for  I  was  very  tired 
with  the  fatigue  of  a  man  whose  muscles  are  cramped 


240  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

from  want  of  exercise.  I  felt  all  at  once  that  I  had 
stepped  from  the  open  world  into  a  place  that  was  too 
small  for  me.  I  was  a  rich  man  at  last,  I  was  the  hus- 
band, too,  of  the  princess  of  the  enchanted  garden,  and 
yet  in  the  midst  of  the  perfume  and  the  soft  lights  and 
the  laughter  floating  down  from  above,  I  saw  myself, 
by  some  freak  of  memory,  as  I  had  crouched  homeless 
in  the  straw  under  a  deserted  stall  in  the  Old  Market. 
Would  the  thought  of  the  boy  I  had  been  haunt  forever 
the  man  I  had  become?  Did  my  past  add  a  keener 
happiness  to  my  present,  or  hang  always  like  a  threaten- 
ing shadow  above  it  ?  There  was  a  part  in  my  life  which 
these  girls  could  not  understand,  which  even  Sally, 
whom  I  loved,  could  never  share  with  me.  How  could 
they  or  she  comprehend  hunger,  who  had  never  gone 
without  for  a  moment  ?  Or  sympathise  with  the  lust  of 
battle  when  they  had  never  encountered  an  obstacle? 
Already  I  heard  the  call  of  the  streets,  and  my  blood 
responded  to  it  in  the  midst  of  the  scented  atmosphere. 
These  things  were  for  Sally,  but  for  me  was  the  joy  of 
the  struggle,  the  passion  to  achieve  that  I  might  return 
with  my  spoils  and  pile  them  higher  and  higher  before 
her  feet.  The  grasping  was  what  I  loved,  not  the  pos- 
session; the  instant  of  triumph,  not  the  fruits  of  the 
conquest.  Love  throbbed  in  my  heart,  but  my  mind, 
as  if  freeing  itself  from  a  restraint,  followed  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic,  covering-  that  night  under 
the  stars  nearly  twenty  thousand  miles  of  road.  The 
elemental  man  in  me  chafed  under  the  social  curb, 
and  I  longed  at  that  instant  to  bear  the  woman  I  had 
won  out  into  the  rough  j  oys  of  the  world.  My  muscles 
would  soon  grow  flabby  in  this  scented  warmth.     The 


IX   WHICH    SOCIETY   RECEIVES   US  241 

fighter  would  war  with  the  dreamer,  and  I  would  re- 
gret the  short,  fierce  battle  with  my  competitors  in  the 
business  of  life. 

A  shght  sound  made  me  turn,  and  I  saw  Bonny  Page 
standing  alone  in  the  doorway,  and  looking  straight  at 
me  with  her  dancing  eyes. 

^'I  don't  know  you  yet,  Ben,"  she  said  in  the  direct, 
gallant  manner  of  a  perfect  horsewoman,  ^'but  I'm 
going  to  like  you." 

^^ Please  try,"  I  answered,  ''and  Pll  do  my  best  not 
to  make  it  hard." 

^'I  don't  think  it  will  be  hard,  but  even  if  it  were,  I'd 
do  it  for  Sally's  sake.     Sally  is  my  darling." 

''And  mine.     So  we're  alike  in  one  thing  at  least." 

''I'm  perfectly  furious  with  Aunt  Mitty.  I  mean  to 
tell  her  so  the  next  time  I've  taken  a  high  jump." 

"Poor  Miss  Mitty.  How  can  she  help  herself?  She 
was  born  that  way." 

"Well,  it  was  a  very  bad  way  to  be  born  —  to  want 
to  break  Sally's  heart.  Do  you  know,  I  think  it  was 
dehghtful  —  the  way  you  did  it.  If  I'm  ever  married, 
I  want  to  run  away,  too,  —  only  I'll  run  away  on 
horseback,  because  that  will  be  far  more  exciting." 

She  ran  on  merrily,  partly  I  knew  to  take  my  meas- 
ure while  she  watched  me,  partly  to  ease  the  embar- 
rassment which  her  exquisite  social  instinct  had  at 
once  discerned.  She  was  charming,  friendly,  almost 
affectionate,  yet  I  was  conscious  all  the  time  that,  in 
spite  of  herself,  she  was  a  little  critical,  a  trifle  aloof. 
Her  perfect  grooming,  the  very  fineness  of  her  self- 
possession,  her  high-bred  gallantry  of  manner,  and  even 
the  shining  gloss  on  her  black,  beribboned  hair,  and 


242  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

her  high  boots,  produced  in  me  a  sense  of  remoteness, 
which  I  found  it  impossible  altogether  to  overcome. 

In  a  little  while  there  was  a  flutter  on  the  staircase, 
and  the  other  girls  trooped  down,  with  Sally  in  their 
midst.  She  had  changed  her  travelling  dress  for  a 
gown  of  white,  cut  low  at  the  neck,  and  about  her 
throat  she  wore  a  necklace  of  pearls  I  had  given  her  at 
her  wedding.  There  was  a  bright  flush  in  her  face, 
and  she  looked  to  me  as  she  had  done  that  day,  in  her 
red  shoes,  in  Saint  John's  churchyard. 

When  I  came  downstairs  from  my  dressing-room,  I 
found  that  the  girls  had  gone,  and  she  was  standing 
by  the  dinner  table,  with  her  face  bent  down  over  the 
vase  of  pink  roses  in  the  centre. 

^'So  we  are  in  our  own  home,  darling,  at  last,''  I 
said,  and  a  few  minutes  later,  as  I  looked  across  the 
pink  candle  shades  and  the  roses,  and  saw  her  sitting 
opposite  to  me,  I  told  myself  that  at  last  both  the 
fighter  in  me  and  the  dreamer  had  found  the  fulfilment 
of  their  desire. 

After  dinner,  when  I  had  had  my  smoke  in  the  li- 
brary, we  caught  hands  and  wandered  like  two  children 
over  the  new  house  —  into  the  pink  and  white  guest 
room,  and  then  into  Sally's  bedroom,  where  the  blue 
roses  sprawled  over  the  chintz-covered  furniture  and 
the  silk  curtains.  A  glass  door  gave  on  a  tiny  bal- 
cony, and  throwing  a  shawl  about  her  head  and  her 
bare  shoulders,  she  went  with  me  out  into  the  frosty 
December  night,  where  a  cold  bright  moon  was  riding 
high  above  the  church  steeples.  With  my  arm  about 
her,  and  her  head  on  my  breast,  we  stood  in  silence 
gazing  over  the  city,  while  the  sense  of  her  nearness, 


IN   WHICH    SOCIETY   RECEIVES   US  243 

of  her  throbbing  spirit  and  body,  filled  my  heart  vrith 
an  exquisite  peace. 

''You  and  I  are  the  world,  Ben." 

^^You  are  my  world,  anyway.'' 

''It  is  such  a  happy  world  to-night.  There  is  noth- 
ing but  love  in  it  —  no  pain,  no  sorrow,  no  disappoint- 
ment.    Why  doesn't  everybody  love,  I  wonder?" 

"Everybody  hasn't  you." 

"I'm  so  sorry  for  poor  Aunt  Mitty,  —  she  never  loved, 
—  and  for  poor  Aunt  Matoaca,  because  she  didn't  love 
my  lover.  Oh,  you  are  so  strong,  Ben;  that,  I  think, 
is  why  I  first  loved  you  !  I  see  you  always  in  the  back- 
ground of  my  thoughts  pushing  that  wheel  up  the  hill." 

' '  That  w^on  you.  And  to  think  if  I'd  known  you  were 
there,  Sally,  I  couldn't  have  done  it." 

"That,  too,  is  why  I  love  you,  so  there's  another 
reason !  It  isn't  only  your  strength,  Ben,  it  is,  I  be- 
lieve, stiU  more  your  self-forgetfulness.  Then  you  for- 
got yourself  because  you  thought  of  the  poor  horse; 
and  again,  do  you  remember  the  day  of  Aunt  Matoaca's 
death,  when  you  gave  her  your  arm  and  took  her  little 
flag  in  your  hand?  You  would  have  marched  all  the 
way  to  the  Capitol  just  like  that,  and  I  don't  believe 
you  would  ever  have  known  that  it  looked  ridiculous 
or  that  people  were  laughing  at  you." 

"To  tell  the  truth,  Sally,  I  should  never  have  cared." 

She  clung  closer,  her  perfumed  hair  on  my  breast. 

"And  yet  they  wondered  why  I  loved  you,"  she 
murmured;  "they  wondered  why!" 

"Can  you  guess  why  I  loved  you?"  I  asked.  "Was 
it  for  your  red  shoes?  Or  for  that  tiny  scar  Hke  a 
dimple  I've  always  adored?" 


244  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^I  never  told  you  what  made  that/'  she  said,  after 
a  moment.  '^I  was  a  very  little  baby  when  my  father 
got  angry  with  mamma  one  day  —  he  had  been  drink- 
ing —  and  he  upset  the  cradle  in  which  I  was  asleep." 

She  lifted  her  face,  and  I  kissed  the  scar  under  the 
white  shawl. 

The  next  day  when  I  came  home  to  luncheon,  she  told 
me  that  she  had  been  to  her  old  home  to  see  Miss  Mitty. 

^^I  couldn't  stand  the  thought  of  her  loneliness,  so  I 
went  into  the  drawing-room  at  the  hour  I  knew  she 
would  be  tending  her  sweet  alyssum  and  Dicky,  the 
canary.  She  was  there,  looking  very  thin  and  old,  and, 
Ben,  she  treated  me  like  a  stranger.  She  wouldn't  kiss 
me,  and  she  didn't  ask  me  a  single  question  —  only 
spoke  of  the  weather  and  her  fiower  boxes,  as  if  I  had 
called  for  the  first  time." 

'^I  know,  I  know,"  I  said,  taking  her  into  my  arms. 

^^And  everybody  else  is  so  kind.  People  have  been 
sending  me  flow^ers  all  day.  Did  you  ever  see  such  a 
profusion?  They  are  all  calling,  too,  —  the  Fitzhughs, 
the  Harrisons,  the  Tuckers,  the  Mayos,  Jennie  Ran- 
dolph came,  and  old  Mrs.  Tucker,  who  never  goes  any- 
where since  her  daughter  died,  and  Charlotte  Peyton, 
and  all  the  Corbins  in  a  bunch."  Then  her  tone 
changed.  ^^Ben,"  she  said,  ''I  want  to  see  that  little 
sister  of  yours.    Will  you  take  me  there  this  afternoon  ?" 

Something  in  her  request,  or  in  the  way  she  uttered 
it,  touched  me  to  the  heart. 

^'I'd  like  you  to  see  Jessy  —  she's  pretty  enough  to 
look  at  —  but  I  didn't  mean  you  to  marry  my  family, 
you  know." 

^'I  know  you  didn't,  dear,  but  I've  married  every- 


IN   WHICH   SOCIETY   RECEIVES   US  245 

thing  of  yours  all  the  same.  If  you  can  spare  a  few 
minutes  after  luncheon,  we'll  drive  down  and  speak 
to  her." 

I  could  spare  the  few  minutes,  and  when  the  carriage 
was  ready,  she  came  down  in  her  hat  and  furs,  and  we 
went  at  a  merry  pace  down  Franklin  Street  to  the 
boarding-house  in  which  Jessy  was  living.  As  we 
drove  up  to  the  pavement,  the  door  of  the  house  opened 
and  my  little  sister  came  out,  dressed  for  w^alking 
and  looking  unusually  pretty. 

'^Why,  Ben,  she's  a  beauty  !"  said  Sally,  in  a  whisper, 
as  the  girl  approached  us.  To  me  Jessy's  face  had 
always  appeared  too  cold  and  vacant  for  beauty,  in 
spite  of  her  perfect  features  and  the  brilliant  fairness 
of  her  complexion.  Even  now  I  missed  the  glow  of 
feeling  or  of  animation  in  her  glance,  as  she  crossed  the 
pavement  with  her  slow,  precise  walk,  and  put  her 
hand  into  Sally's. 

''How  do  you  do?  It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  come,'' 
she  said  in  a  measured,  correct  voice. 

''Of  course  I  came,  Jessy.  I  am  your  new  sister, 
and  you  must  come  and  stay  with  me  when  I  am  out 
of  mourning." 

"Thank  you,"  responded  Jessy  gravely,  "I  should 
like  to." 

The  cold  had  touched  her  cheek  until  it  looked  like 
tinted  marble,  and  under  her  big  black  hat  her  blond 
hair  rolled  in  natural  waves  from  her  forehead. 

"Are  you  happy  here,  Jessy?"  I  asked. 

"They  are  very  kind  to  me.  There's  an  old  gentle- 
man boarding  here  now  from  the  West.  He  is  going 
to  give  us  a  theatre  party  to-night.     They  say  he  has 


246  THE    ROMANCE    OF    A   PLAIN  MAN 

millions."  For  the  first  time  the  glow  of  enthusiasm 
shone  in  her  limpid  blue  eyes. 

^'A  good  use  to  make  of  his  millions/'  I  laughed. 
'^Do  you  hear  often  from  President,  Jessy?'' 

The  glow  faded  from  her  eyes  and  they  grew  cold 
again.  ^'He  writes  such  bad  letters/''  she  answered, 
^'T  can  hardly  read  them." 

^^Xever  forget,"  I  answered  sternly,  ^^that  he  denied 
himself  an  education  in  order  that  you  might  become 
what  you  are." 

While  I  spoke  the  door  of  the  house  opened  again, 
and  the  old  gentleman  she  had  alluded  to  came  gingerly 
down  the  steps.  He  had  a  small,  wizened  face,  and  he 
wore  a  fur-lined  overcoat,  in  which  it  w^as  evident  that 
he  still  suffered  from  the  cold. 

'^This  is  my  brother  and  my  sister,  Mr.  Cottrel," 
said  Jessy,  as  he  came  slowdy  toward  us. 

He  bowed  with  a  pompous  manner,  and  stood  twirl- 
ing the  chain  of  his  eye-glasses.  '^Yes,  yes,  I  have 
heard  of  your  brother.  His  name  is  well  known  al- 
ready," he  answered.  "1  congratulate,  sir,"  he 
added,  ^^not  the  ^  man  who  got  rich  quickly,'  as  I've 
heard  you  called,  but  the  fortunate  brother  of  a 
beautiful  sister." 

^'What  a  perfectly  horrid  old  man,"  remarked  Sally, 
some  minutes  later,  as  we  drove  back  again.  ^'I  think, 
Ben,  we'll  have  to  take  the  little  sister.    She's  a  beauty." 

^^If  she  wasn't  so  everlastingly  cold  and  quiet." 

^^It  suits  her  style  —  that  little  precise  way  she  has. 
There's  a  look  about  her  like  one  of  Perugino's  saints." 

Then  the  carriage  stopped  at  the  office,  and  I  re- 
turned, with  a  high  heart,  to  the  game. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

I    AM   THE    WONDER    OF    THE    HOUR 

During  the  first  year  of  my  marriage  I  was  alread}^ 
spoken  of  as  the  most  successful  speculator  in  the  state. 
The  whirlpool  of  finance  had  won  me  from  the  road, 
and  I  had  sacrificed  the  single  allegiance  to  the  bolder 
moves  of  the  game.  Yet  if  I  could  be  bold,  I  was 
cautious,  too,  —  and  that  peculiar  quality  which 
the  General  called  '^financial  genius/'  and  the  w^orld 
named  '^the  luck  of  the  speculator/'  had  enabled  me 
to  act  always  between  the  two  dangerous  extremes  of 
timidity  and  rashness.  ^'To  get  up  when  others  sat 
down,  and  to  sit  down  w^hen  others  got  up,''  I  told  the 
General  one  day,  had  been  the  rule  by  which  I  had 
played. 

'^They  were  talking  of  you  at  the  club  last  night, 
Ben,"  he  said.  ^^  You  were  the  only  one  of  us  who  had 
sense  enough  to  load  up  with  A.  P.  &  C.  stock  when  it 
was  selling  at  80,  and  now  it's  jumped  up  to  150. 
Jim  Randolph  was  fool  enough  to  remark  that  you'd 
had  the  easiest  success  of  any  man  he  knew." 

^^Easy?     Does  he  think  so?" 

^'^So  you  call  that  easy,  gentlemen?'  I  responded. 
'  Well,  I  tell  you  that  boy  has  sweated  for  it  since  he 
was  seven  years  old.  It's  the  only  way,  too,  I'm  sure 
of  it.  If  you  want  to  succeed,  you've  got  to  begin  by 
sweating.'" 

247 


248  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIX   MAX 

^' Thank  you.  General,  but  I  suppose  most  things 
look  easy  until  you've  tried  them.'' 

^'It  doesn't  look  easy  to  me,  Ben,  when  I've  seen 
you  at  it  all  day  and  half  the  night  since  you  were  a 
boy.  What  I  said  to  those  fellows  at  the  club  is  the 
Gospel  truth  —  there's  but  one  way  to  get  anything  in 
this  world,  and  that  is  by  sweating  for  it." 

We  were  in  his  study,  to  which  he  was  confined  by  an 
attack  of  the  gout,  and  at  such  times  he  loved  to  ramble 
on  in  his  aging,  reminiscent  habit. 

^^You  know,  General,"  I  said,  ^Hhat  they  want  me  to 
accept  the  presidency  of  the  Union  Bank  in  Jennings' 
place.  I've  been  one  of  the  directors,  you  see,  for  the 
last  three  or  four  years." 

''You'd  be  the  youngest  bank  president  in  the 
country.  It's  a  good  thing,  and  you'd  control  enough 
money  to  keep  you  awake  at  night.  But  remember, 
Ben,  as  my  dear  old  coloured  mammy  used  to  say  to 
me,  Ho  hatch  first  ain't  always  to  crow  last.'" 

''Do  you  call  it  hatching  or  crowing  to  become 
president  of  the  Union  Bank?" 

"That  depends.  If  you're  shrewd  and  safe,  as  I 
think  you  are,  it  may  turn  out  to  be  both.  It  would 
be  a  good  plan,  though,  to  say  to  yourself  every  time 
you  come  up  Franklin  Street,  'I've  toted  potatoes  up 
this  hill,  and  not  my  own  potatoes  either.'  It's  good 
for  you,  sir,  to  remember  it,  damned  good." 

"I'm  not  likely  to  forget  it  —  they  were  heavy." 

"It  was  the  best  thing  that  ever  happened  to  you  — 
it  was  the  making  of  you.  There's  nothing  I  know  so 
good  for  a  man  as  to  be  able  to  remember  that  he  toted 
somebody  else's  potatoes.     Now,  look  at  that  George 


I  a:*!  the  wonder  of  the  hour     249 

of  mine.  He  never  toted  a  potato  in  his  life  —  not 
even  his  own.  If  he  had,  he  might  have  been  a  bank 
president  to-day  instead  of  the  pleasant,  well-dressed 
club-man  he  is,  wdth  a  mustache  like  wax- work. 
IVe  an  idea,  Ben,  but  don't  let  it  get  any  farther,  that 
he  never  got  over  not  having  Sally,  and  that  took  the 
spirit  out  of  him.     She's  w^ell,  ain't  she?" 

^^  Yes,  she's  very  well  and  more  beautiful  than  ever." 

^^Hasn't  developed  any  principles  yet,  eh?  I  always 
thought  they  were  in  her." 

'^None  that  interfere  with  my  comfort  at  any 
rate." 

^^Keep  an  eye  on  her  and  keep  her  occupied  all  the 
time.  That's  the  w^ay  to  deal  with  a  woman  who  has 
ideas  —  don't  leave  her  a  blessed  minute  to  sit  down 
and  hatch  'em  out.  Pet  her,  dress  her,  amuse  her,  and 
whenever  she  begins  to  talk  about  a  principle,  step 
out  and  buy  her  a  present  to  take  her  mind  off  it. 
Anything  no  bigger  than  a  thimble  will  turn  a  woman's 
mind  in  the  right  direction  if  you  spring  it  on  her  like 
a  surprise.  Ah,  that's  the  way  her  Aunt  Matoaca 
ought  to  have  been  treated.  Poor  Miss  Matoaca,  she 
went  wrong  for  the  w^ant  of  a  little  simple  management 
like  that.  You  never  saw  Miss  Matoaca  Bland  when 
she  was  a  girl,  Ben?" 

^'I  have  heard  she  was  beautiful." 

''Beautiful  ain't  the  w^ord,  sir!  I  tell  you  the  first 
time  I  ever  saw  her  she  came  to  church  in  a  white 
poke  bonnet  lined  with  cherry-coloured  silk,  and  her 
cheeks  exactly  a  match  to  her  bonnet  lining."  He  got 
out  his  big  silk  handkerchief,  and  blew  his  nose  loudly, 
after  which  he  wiped  his  eyes,  and  sat  staring  moodily 


250  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

at  his  foot  bandaged  out  of  all  proportion  to  its 
natural  size. 

''Who'd  have  thought  to  look  at  her  then/'  he  pur- 
sued, ''that  she'd  go  cracked  over  this  Yankee  aboli- 
tion idea  before  she  died." 

"Why,  I  thought  they  owned  slaves  up  to  the  end, 
General." 

"Slaves?  What  have  slaves  got  to  do  with  it? 
Ain't  the  abolitionists  and  the  woman  suffragists 
and  the  rest  of  those  damned  fire-eating  Yankees  all 
the  same?  What  they  want  to  do  is  to  overturn  the 
Constitution,  and  it  makes  no  difference  to  'em  whether 
they  overturn  it  under  one  name  or  the  other.  I 
tell  you,  Ben,  as  sure's  my  name's  George  Bolingbroke, 
Matoaca  Bland  couldn't  have  told  me  to  the  day  of  her 
death  whether  she  was  an  abolitionist  or  a  woman's 
suffragist.  When  a  woman  goes  cracked  like  that,  all 
she  wants  is  to  be  a  fire-eater,  and  I  doubt  if  she  ever 
knows  what  she  is  eating  it  about.  Women  ain't  like 
men,  my  boy,  there  isn't  an  ounce  of  moderation  to 
the  whole  sex,  sir.  Why,  look  at  the  way  they're 
always  getting  their  hearts  broken  or  their  heads 
cracked.  They  can't  feel  an  emotion  or  think  an  idea 
that  something  inside  of  'em  doesn't  begin  to  split. 
Now,  did  you  ever  hear  of  a  man  getting  his  heart 
broken  or  his  brain  cracked?" 

The  canker  was  still  there,  doing  its  bitter  work. 
For  forty  years  Miss  Matoaca  had  had  her  revenge, 
and  even  in  the  grave  her  ghost  would  not  lie  quiet 
and  let  him  rest.  In  his  watery  little  eyes  and  his 
protruding,  childish  lip,  I  read  the  story  of  fruitless 
,  excesses  and  of  vain  retaliations. 


I   AJyi   THE   WOXDER   OF    THE   HOUR  251 

When  I  reached  home,  I  found  Sally  in  her  upstairs 
sitting-room  with  Jessy,  who  was  trying  on  an  elaborate 
ball  gown  of  white  lace.  Since  the  two  years  of  mourn- 
ing were  over,  the  little  sister  had  come  to  stay  with  us, 
and  Sally  was  filled  with  generous  plans  for  the  girFs 
jDleasure.  Jessy,  herself,  received  it  all  with  her  re- 
served, indifferent  manner,  turning  her  beautiful  pro- 
file upon  us  with  an  expression  of  saintly  serenity. 
It  amused  me  sometimes  to  wonder  what  was  behind 
the  brilliant  red  and  white  of  her  complexion  —  what 
thoughts?  what  desires?  what  impulses?  She  went 
so  placidly  on  her  way,  gaining  what  she  wanted,  exe- 
cuting what  she  planned,  accepting  what  was  offered 
to  her,  that  there  were  moments  when  I  felt  tempted 
to  arouse  her  by  a  burst  of  anger  —  to  discover  if  a 
single  natural  instinct  survived  the  shining  polish  of 
her  exterior.  Sally  had  worked  a  miracle  in  her  man- 
ner, her  speech,  her  dress;  and  yet  in  all  that  time  I 
had  never  seen  the  ripple  of  an  impulse  cross  the  ex- 
quisite vacancy  of  her  face.  Did  she  feel?  Did  she 
think?  Did  she  care?  I  demanded.  Once  or  twice 
I  had  spoken  of  President,  trying  to  excite  a  look  of 
gratitude,  if  not  of  affection ;  but  even  then  no  change 
had  come  in  the  mirror-like  surface  of  her  blue  eyes. 
President,  I  was  aware,  had  sacrificed  himself  to  her 
while  I  was  still  a  child,  had  slaved  and  toiled  and 
denied  himself  that  he  might  make  her  a  lady.  Yet 
vrhen  I  asked  her  if  she  ever  wrote  to  him,  she  smiled 
quietl}'-  and  shook  her  head. 

''Why  don't  you  write  to  him,  Jessy?  He  was 
always  fond  of  you.'' 

''He  writes  such  dreadful  letters  —  just  like  a  work- 


252  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

ing-man^s  —  that  I  hate  to  get  them/'  she  answered, 
turning  to  catch  the  effect  of  her  train  in  the  long 
mirror. 

^'He  is  a  working-man,  Jessy,  and  so  am  I.'^ 

She  accepted  the  statement  without  demur^  as  she 
accepted  everything  —  neither  denying  nor  disputing, 
but  apparently  indifferent  to  its  truth  or  falseness. 
My  eyes  met  Sally's  in  the  glass,  and  they  held  me  in  a 
long,  compassionate  gaze. 

'^AlII  men  are  working-men,  Jessy,  if  they  are  worth 
anything,"  she  said,  ^^and  any  work  is  good  work  if 
it  is  well  done.'' 

'^He  is  a  miner,"  responded  Jessy. 

^'If  he  is,  it  is  because  he  prefers  to  do  the  work  he 
knows  to  being  idle,"  I  answered  sharply.  ^'What 
you  must  remember  is  that  when  he  had  little,  and  I 
had  nothing,  he  gave  you  freely  all  that  he  had." 

She  did  not  answer,  and  for  a  moment  I  thought  I 
had  convinced  her. 

^^Will  you  write  to  President  to-night?"  I  asked. 

^^But  we  are  having  a  dinner  party.  How  can 
I?" 

'' To-morrow,  then?" 

^^I  am  going  to  the  theatre  with  Mrs.  Blansford. 
Mr.  Cottrel  has  taken  a  box  for  her.  He  is  one  of  the 
richest  men  in  the  West,  isn't  he?" 

'^  There  are  a  great  many  rich  men  in  the  West.  How 
can  it  concern  you?" 

^'Oh,  it's  beautiful  to  be  rich,"  she  returned,  in  the 
most  enthusiastic  phrase  I  had  ever  heard  her  utter; 
and  gathering  her  white  lace  train  over  her  arm  she 
went  into  her  bedroom  to  remove  the  dress. 


I   AM    THE   WONDER   OF   THE   HOUR  253 

'^What  is  she  made  of,  Sally?"  I  asked,  in  sheer 
desperation;  ''flesh  and  blood,  do  you  think?" 

''I  don't  know,  Ben,  not  your  flesh  and  blood,  cer- 
tainly." 

''But  for  President  —  why  wasn't  my  father  hanged 
before  he  gave  him  such  a  name  !  —  she  would  have 
remained  ignorant  and  common  with  all  her  beauty. 
He  almost  starved  himself  in  order  to  send  her  to  a  good 
school  and  give  her  pretty  clothes." 

''I  know,  I  know,  it  seems  terribly  ungrateful  —  but 
perhaps  she's  excited  over  her  first  dinner." 

That  evening  we  were  to  give  our  first  formal  dinner, 
and  when  I  came  downstairs  a  little  before  eight  o'clock, 
I  found  the  rooms  a  bower  of  azaleas,  over  which  the 
pink-shaded  lamps  shed  a  light  that  touched  Jessy's 
lace  gown  with  pale  rose. 

''It's  like  fairyland,  isn't  it?"  she  said,  "and  the 
table  is  so  beautiful.     Come  and  see  the  table." 

She  led  me  into  the  dining-room  and  we  stood  gazing 
down  on  the  decorations,  while  we  waited  for  Sally. 

"Who  is  coming,  Jessy?" 

"Twelve  in  all.  General  Bolingbroke  and  Mr. 
Bolingbroke,  Mrs.  Fitzhugh,  Governor  Blenner,  Miss 
Page,"  she  went  on  reading  the  cards,  "Mr.  Mason, 
Miss  Watson,  Colonel  Henry,  Mrs.  Preston,  Mrs. 
Tyler—" 

"That  ^ill  do.  I'll  know  them  when  I  see  them. 
Do  you  like  it,  Jessy?" 

"Yes,  I  like  it.     Isn't  my  dress  lovely?" 

"Very,  but  don't  get  spoiled.  You  see  Sally  has 
had  this  all  her  life,  and  she  isn't  spoiled." 

"I  don't  believe  she  could  be,"  she  responded,  for  her 


254  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

admiration  for  Sally  was  the  most  human  thing  I  had 
erer  discovered  about  her,  ^^and  she's  so  beautiful  — 
more  beautiful,  I  think,  than  Bonny  Page,  though  of 
course  nobody  would  agree  with  me.'' 

'^Well,  she's  perfect,  and  she  always  was  and  always 
will  be,"  I  returned. 

^^ You're  a  great  man,  aren't  you?"  she  asked  sud- 
denly, turning  away  from  the  table. 

''Why,  no.  What  in  the  world  put  that  into  your 
head?"  • 

''Well,  the  General  told  Mr.  Cottrel  you  were  a  genius, 
and  Mr.  Cottrel  said  you  were  the  first  genius  he  had 
ever  heard  of  who  measured  six  feet  two  in  his  stock- 
ings." 

"Of  course  I'm  not  a  genius.     They  were  joking." 

"You're  rich  anyway,  and  that's  just  as  good." 

I  was  about  to  make  some  sharp  rejoinder,  irritated 
by  her  insistence  on  the  distinction  of  wealth,  when  the 
sound  of  Sally's  step  fell  on  my  ears,  and  a  moment 
later  she  came  down  the  brilliantly  lighted  staircase, 
her  long  black  lace  train  rippling  behind  her.  As  she 
moved  among  the  lamps  and  azaleas,  I  thought  I 
had  never  seen  her  more  radiant  —  not  even  on  the 
night  of  her  first  party  when  she  wore  the  white  rose 
in  her  wreath  of  plaits.  Her  hair  was  arranged  to-night 
in  the  same  simple  fashion,  her  mouth  was  as  \dvid, 
her  grey  eyes  held  the  same  mingling  of  light  with  dark- 
ness. But  there  was  a  deeper  serenity  in  her  face, 
brought  there  by  the  untroubled  happiness  of  her 
marriage,  and  her  figure  had  grown  fuller  and  nobler, 
as  if  it  had  moulded  itself  to  the  larger  and  finer  pur- 
poses of  life. 


I  J^l   THE  WONDER  OF  THE  HOUR     255 

''The  house  is  charming,  Jess}^  is  lovely,  and  you, 
Ben,  are  magnificent,^'  she  said,  her  eyebrows  arching 
merrily  as  she  slipped  her  hand  in  my  arm.  ''And  it's 
a  good  dinner,  too,''  she  went  on;  "the  terrapin  is 
perfect.  I  sent  into  the  country  for  the  game,  and  the 
man  from  Washington  came  down  with  the  decorations 
and  the  ices.  Best  of  all,  I  made  the  salad  myself,  so 
be  sure  to  eat  it.  We'll  begin  to  be  gay  now,  shan't  we  ? 
Are  you  sure  we  have  money  enough  for  a  ball?" 

"We've  money  enough  for  anything  that  you  want, 
SaUy." 

"Then  I'll  spend  it  —  but  oh  !  Ben,  promise  me  you 
won't  mention  stocks  to-night  until  the  women  have 
left  the  table." 

"I'll  promise  you,  and  keep  it,  too.  I  don't  beheve 
I  ever  introduced  a  subject  in  my  life  to  any  woman 
but  you." 

"I'm  glad,  at  least,  there's  one  subject  you  didn't 
introduce  to  any  other." 

Then  the  door-bell  rang,  and  we  hurried  into  the 
drawing-room  in  time  to  receive  Governor  Blenner  and 
the  General,  who  arrived  together. 

"I  almost  got  a  fall  on  your  pavement,  Ben,"  said 
the  General,  "it's  beginning  to  sleet.  You'd  better 
have  some  sawdust  down." 

It  took  me  a  few  minutes  to  order  the  sawdust, 
and  when  I  returned,  the  other  guests  were  already 
in  the  room,  and  Sally  was  waiting  to  go  in  to  dinner 
on  the  arm  of  Governor  Blenner,  a  slim,  nervous-look- 
ing man,  T\ith  a  long  iron-grey  mustache.  I  took  in 
Mrs.  Tyler,  a  handsome  widow,  with  a  young  face  and 
snow-white  hair,  and  we  were  no  sooner  seated  than 


256  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

she  began  to  tell  me  a  story  she  had  heard  about  me 
that  morning. 

^  Tarry  James  told  me  she  gave  her  little  boy  a  penny 
and  asked  him  what  he  meant  to  do  with  it.  'Ath 
Mithter  Starr  to  thurn  it  into  a  quarther/  he  replied,'' 

^^Oh,  he  thinks  that  easy  now,  but  he'll  find  out 
differently  some  day/'  I  returned. 

She  nodded  brightly,  with  the  interested,  animated 
manner  of  a  woman  who  realises  that  the  burden  of 
conversation  lies,  not  on  the  man's  shoulders,  but  on 
hers.  While  she  ate  her  soup  I  knew  that  her  alert 
mind  was  working  over  the  subject  which  she  intended 
to  introduce  with  the  next  course.  From  the  other 
end  of  the  table  Sally's  eyes  were  raised  to  mine  over 
the  basket  of  roses  and  lilies.  Jessy  was  listening  to 
George  Bolingbroke,  who  was  telling  a  story  about  the 
races,  while  his  eyes  rested  on  Sally,  with  a  dumb, 
pained  look  that  made  me  suddenly  feel  very  sorry  for 
him.  I  knew  that  he  still  loved  her,  but  until  I  saw 
that  look  in  his  eyes  I  had  never  understood  what  the 
loss  of  her  must  have  meant  in  his  life.  Suppose  I  had 
lost  her,  and  he  had  won,  and  I  had  sat  and  stared  at 
her  across  her  own  dinner  table  with  my  secret  written 
in  my  eyes  for  her  husband  to  read.  A  fierce  sense  of 
possession  swept  over  me,  and  I  felt  angered  because 
his  longing  gaze  was  on  her  flushed  cheeks  and  bare 
shoulders. 

'^No,  no  wine.  I've  drunk  my  last  glass  of  wine 
unless  I  may  hope  for  it  in  heaven,"  I  heard  the  General 
say;  "si  little  Scotch  whiskey  now  and  then  will  see  me 
safely  to  my  grave." 

^^From  champagne  to  Scotch  whiskey  was  a  flat  fall, 


I  AI^I  THE  WONDER  OF  THE  HOUR     257 

General/'  observed  Mrs.  Tyler,  m}^  sprightly  neigh- 
bour. 

''It's  not  so  flat  as  the  fall  to  Lithia  water,  though/' 
retorted  the  General. 

I  was  about  to  join  vacantly  in  the  laugh,  when 
a  sound  in  the  doorway  caused  me  to  lift  my  eyes  from 
my  plate,  and  the  next  instant  I  sat  paralysed  by  the 
figure  that  towered  there  over  the  palms  and  azaleas. 

''Why,  Benjy  boy  !"  cried  a  voice,  in  a  tone  of  joyous 
surprise,  and  while  every  head  turned  instantly  in  the 
direction  of  the  words,  the  candles  and  the  roses  swam 
in  a  blur  of  colour  before  my  eyes.  Standing  on  the 
threshold,  between  two  flowering  azaleas,  ^dth  a  palm 
branch  wa\ing  above  his  head,  was  President,  my 
brother,  who  was  a  miner.  Twenty  years  ago  I  had  last 
seen  him,  and  though  he  was  rougher  and  older  and 
greyer  now,  he  had  the  same  honest  blue  eyes  and  the 
same  kind,  sheepish  face.  The  clothes  he  wore  were 
evidently  those  in  which  he  dressed  himself  for  church 
on  Sunday,  and  they  made  him  ten  times  more  awk- 
ward, ten  times  more  ill  at  ease,  than  he  would  have 
looked  in  his  suit  of  jeans. 

"Why,  Benjy  boy!"  he  burst  out  again;  "and  little 
Jessy!"" 

I  sprang  to  my  feet,  while  a  hot  wave  swept  over  me 
at  the  thought  that  for  a  single  dreadful  instant  I  had 
been  ashamed  of  my  brother.  Already  I  had  pushed 
back  my  chair,  but  before  I  could  move  from  my 
place,  Sally  had  walked  the  length  of  the  table,  and 
stood,  tall  and  queenly,  between  the  flowering  aza- 
leas, with  her  hand  outstretched.  There  was  no 
shame  in  her  face,  no  embarrassment,  no  hesitation. 


258  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

Before  I  could  speak  she  had  turned  and  come  back 
to  us,  Tvdth  her  arm  through  President's,  and  never 
in  my  eyes  had  she  appeared  so  noble,  so  high-bred, 
so  thoroughly  a  Bland  and  a  Fairfax  as  she  did  at  that 
moment. 

'^Governor,  this  is  my  brother,  Mr.  Starr,"  she  said 
in  her  low,  clear  voice.  ^^Ben  has  not  seen  him  for 
twenty  years,  so  if  you  will  pardon  him,  he  will  go  up- 
stairs ^dth  him  to  his  room.'^ 

As  I  went  toward  her  my  glance  swept  the  table 
for  Jessy,  and  I  saw  that  she  was  sitting  perfectly  still 
and  colourless,  crumbling  a  small  piece  of  bread,  while 
her  eyes  clung  to  the  basket  of  roses  and  lilies. 

^^Well,  Benjy  boy!''  exclaimed  President,  too  full 
for  speech,  ''and  httle  Jessy!" 

In  spite  of  his  awkwardness  and  his  Sunday  clothes, 
he  looked  so  happy,  so  up-Hfted  by  the  sincerity  of  his 
affection  above  any  false  feeling  of  shame,  that  the 
tears  sprang  to  my  eyes  as  I  clasped  his  hand. 

The  governor  had  risen  to  speak  to  him,  the  General 
had  done  likewise.  By  their  side  Sally  stood  with  a 
smile  on  her  face  and  her  hand  on  the  table.  She  was 
a  Bland,  after  all,  and  the  racial  instinct  within  her 
had  risen  to  meet  the  crisis.  They  recognised  it,  I 
saw,  and  they,  whose  blood  was  as  blue  as  hers,  re- 
sponded generously  to  the  call.  Not  one  had  failed 
her !  Then  my  eyes  fell  on  Jessy,  sitting  cold  and 
silent,  while  she  crumbled  her  bit  of  bread. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    MAN    AND    THE    CLASS 

^^I  oughtn't  to  have  done  it,  Benjy/'  said  President, 
follomng  me  with  diffidence  under  the  waving  palm 
branches  and  up  the  staircase. 

^'Nonsense,  President/'  I  answered;  ^^I'm  awfully- 
glad  you've  come.  Only  if  I'd  known  about  it,  I'd 
have  met  you  at  the  station." 

^^No,  I  oughtn't  to  have  done  it,  Benjy,"  he  re- 
peated humbly,  standing  in  a  dejected  attitude  in  the 
centre  of  the  guest  room  next  to  Jessy's.  He  had 
entered  nervously,  as  if  he  were  stepping  on  glass,  and 
when  I  motioned  to  a  chair  he  shook  his  head  and 
glanced  uneasily  at  the  delicate  chintz  covering. 

'^I'd  better  not  sit  down.     I'm  feared  I'll  hurt  it." 

^^It's  made  to  be  sat  in.  You  aren't  going  to  stand 
up  in  the  middle  of  the  room  all  night,  old  fellow,  are 
you?" 

At  this  he  appeared  to  hesitate,  and  a  pathetic 
groping  showed  itself  in  his  large,  good-humoured 
face. 

^'You  see,  I've  been  down  in  the  mines,"  he  said, 
'^an'  anything  so  fancy  makes  my  flesh  crawl." 

^^I  wish  you'd  give  up  that  work.  It's  a  shame  to 
have  you  do  it  when  I've  got  more  money  than  I  can 
find  investments  for." 

259 


260  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN  MAN 

*^I^m  a  worker,  Benjy,  and  I'll  die  a  worker.  Pa 
wa'nt  a  worker,  and  that's  why  he  took  to  drink." 

'^Well,  sit  down  now,  and  make  yourself  at  home. 
I've  got  to  go  back  downstairs,  but  I'll  come  up  again 
the  very  minute  that  it's  over." 

Pushing  him,  in  spite  of  his  stubborn,  though  humble, 
resistance,  into  the  depths  of  the  chintz-covered  chair, 
I  went  hurriedly  back  to  the  dinner-table,  and  took  my 
seat  beside  Mrs.  Tyler,  who  remarked  with  a  tact  which 
won  me  completely :  — 

^'Mrs.  Starr  has  been  telling  us  such  interesting 
things  about  your  brother.     He  has  a  very  fine  head." 

''By  George,  I'm  glad  I  shook  his  hand,"  said  the 
General,  in  his  loud,  kindly  way.  ^' Bring  him  to  see 
me,  Ben,  I  like  a  worker." 

The  terrible  minute  in  which  I  had  sat  there,  paralysed 
by  the  shame  of  acknowledging  him,  was  still  searing 
my  mind.  As  I  met  Sally's  eyes  over  the  roses  and 
lilies,  I  wondered  if  she  had  seen  my  cowardliness  as 
I  had  seen  Jessy's,  and  been  repelled  by  it?  When 
the  dinner  was  over,  and  the  last  guest  had  gone,  I 
asked  myself  the  question  again  while  I  went  upstairs 
to  bring  my  brother  from  his  retirement.  As  I  opened 
the  door,  he  started  up  from  the  chair  in  which  I  had 
placed  him,  and  began  rubbing  his  eyes  as  he  followed 
me  timidly  out  of  the  room.  At  the  table  Sally  seated 
herself  opposite  to  him,  and  talked  in  her  simple, 
kindly  manner  while  he  ate  his  dinner. 

^Tour  his  wine,  Ben,"  she  said,  dismissing  the  butler, 
^^ there  are  too  many  frivolities,  aren't  there?  I  like 
a  clear  space,  too." 

Turning  toward  him  she  pushed  gently  away  the 


THE   MAN   AND    THE   CLASS  261 

confusing  decorations^  and  removed  the  useless  num- 
ber of  forks  from  beside  his  plate.  If  the  way  he  ate 
his  soup  and  drank  his  wine  annoyed  her,  there  was 
no  hint  of  it  in  her  kind  eyes  and  her  untroubled 
smile.  She,  who  was  sensitive  to  the  point  of  deli- 
cacy, I  knew,  watched  him  crumble  his  bread  into 
his  green  turtle,  and  gulp  down  his  sherry,  with  a 
glance  which  apparently  was  oblivious  of  the  thing  at 
which  it  looked.  Jessy  shrank  gradually  aw^ay,  con- 
fessing presently  that  she  had  a  headache  and  would 
like  to  go  upstairs  to  bed ;  and  when  she  kissed  Presi- 
dent's cheek,  I  saw  aversion  written  in  every  line  of 
her  shrinking  figure.  Yet  opposite  to  him  sat  Sally, 
who  was  a  Bland  and  a  Fairfax,  and  not  a  tremor, 
not  the  flicker  of  an  eyelash,  disturbed  her  friendly 
and  charming  expression.  What  w^as  the  secret  of 
that  exquisite  patience,  that  perfect  courtesy,  which 
w^as  confirmed  by  the  heart,  not  by  the  lips  ?  Did 
the  hidden  cause  of  it  lie  in  the  fact  that  it  was  not  a 
manner,  after  all,  but  the  very  essence  of  a  character, 
whose  ruling  spirit  was  exhaustless  sympathy? 

^^Tve  told  Benjy,  ma'am,''  said  President,  selecting 
the  largest  fork  by  some  instinct  for  appropriateness, 
'Hhat  I  know  I  oughtn't  to  have  done  it." 

'^To  have  done  what?"    repeated  Sally  kindly. 

^'That  I  oughtn't  to  have  come  in  on  a  party  like 
that  dressed  as  I  am,  and  I  so  plain  and  uneddi- 
cated." 

'^You  mustn't  worry,"  she  answered,  bending  for- 
w^ard  in  all  the  queenliness  of  her  braided  wreath  and 
her  bare  shoulders,  ''you  mustn't  worry  —  not  for  a 
minute.     It   was   natural   that   you   should   come   to 


262  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

your  brother  at  once,  and,  of  course,  we  want  you  to 
stay  with  us.'' 

I  had  never  seen  her  fail  when  social  intuition 
guided  her,  and  she  did  not  fail  now.  He  glanced 
down  at  his  clothes  in  a  pleased,  yet  hesitating,  manner. 

^^ These  did  very  well  on  Sunday  in  Pocahontas," 
he  said,  ^^but  somehow  they  don't  seem  to  suit  here; 
I  reckon  so  many  flow^ers  and  lights  kind  of  dazzle  my 
eyes." 

^^They  do  perfectly  well,"  answered  Sally,  speaking 
in  a  firm,  direct  way  as  if  she  were  talking  to  a  child ; 
^^but  if  you  would  feel  more  comfortable  in  some  of 
Ben's  clothes,  he  has  any  number  of  them  at  your 
service.     He  is  about  your  height,  is  he  not?" 

^^To  think  of  little  Benjy  growin'  so  tall,"  he  re- 
marked with  a  kind  of  ecstasy,  and  when  we  went 
into  the  library  for  a  smoke,  he  insisted  upon  meas- 
uring heights  with  me  against  the  ledge  of  the  door. 
Then,  alone  with  me  and  the  cheerful  crackling  of  the 
log  fire,  his  embarrassment  disappeared,  and  he  began 
to  ask  a  multitude  of  eager  questions  about  myself 
and  Jessy  and  my  marriage. 

^^And  so  pa  died,"  he  remarked  sadly,  between  the 
long  whiffs  of  his  pipe. 

''I'm  not  sure  it  wasn't  the  best  thing  he  ever  did," 
I  responded. 

''Well,  you  see,  Benjy,  he  wa'nt  a  worker,  and 
when  a  man  ain't  a  worker  there's  mighty  little  to 
stand  between  him  and  drink.  Now,  ma,  she  was  a 
w^orker." 

"And  we  got  it  from  her.  That's  why  we  hate  to 
be  idle,  I  suppose." 


THE    MAN    AND    THE    CLASS  263 

^^Didit  ever  strike  you^Benjy/' he  enquired  solemnly, 
after  a  minute,  ''that  in  the  marriage  of  ma  and  pa 
the  breeches  were  on  the  wrong  one  of  'em?  Pa 
wa'nt  much  of  a  man,  but  he  would  have  made  a 
female  that  we  could  have  been  proud  of.  With  all 
the  good  working  qualities,  we  never  could  be  proud 
of  ma  when  we  considered  her  as  a  female." 

'^Well,  I  don't  know,  but  I  think  she  was  the  be^t 
we  ever  had." 

^'We  are  proud  of  Je^sy/'  he  pursued  reflectively. 

'^Yes,  we  are  proud  of  Jessy,"  I  repeated,  and  as  I 
uttered  the  words,  I  remembered  her  beautiful  blighted 
look,  while  she  sat  cold  and  silent,  crumbling  her  bit 
of  bread. 

'^And  we  are  proud  of  you,  Benjy,"  he  added,  ^'but 
you  ain't  any  particular  reason  to  be  proud  of  me.  You 
can't  be  proud  of  a  man  that  ain't  had  an  eddication." 

^^Well,  the  education  doesn't  make  the  man,  you 
know." 

''It  does  a  good  deal  towards  it.  The  stuffing  goes 
a  long  way  with  the  goose,  as  poor  ma  used  to  say. 
Do  you  ever  think  what  ma  would  have  been  if  she'd 
had  an  eddication?  An  eddication  and  breeches 
would  have  made  a  general  of  her.  It  must  take  a 
powerful  lot  of  patience  to  stand  being  born  a  female." 

He  took  a  wad  of  tobacco  from  his  pocket,  eyed  it 
timidly,  and  after  glancing  at  the  tiled  hearth,  put  it 
back  again. 

'^  You  know  what  I  would  do  if  I  were  a  rich  man, 
Benjy?"  he  said;  "Vd  buy  a  raUroad." 

''You'd  have  to  be  a  very  rich  man,  indeed,  to  do 
that." 


264  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^It's  a  little  dead-beat  road,  the  West  Virginia  and 
Wyanoke.  I  overheard  two  gentlemen  talking  about 
it  yesterday  in  Pocahontas,  and  one  of  'em  had  been 
down  to  look  at  those  worked-out  coal  fields  at  Wya- 
noke. ^If  I  wa'nt  in  as  many  schemes  as  I  could 
float,  I'd  buy  up  a  control  of  that  road,'  said  the  one 
who  had  been  there,  ^you  mark  my  words,  there's 
better  coal  in  those  fields  than  has  ever  come  out  of 
'em.'  They  called  him  Huntley,  and  he  said  he'd 
been  down  with  an  expert." 

'^Huntley  ?  "  I  caught  at  the  name,  for  he  was  one  of 
the  shrewdest  promoters  in  the  South.  '^If  he  thinks 
that,  why  didn't  he  get  control  of  the  road  himself?" 

^'The  other  wanted  him  to.  He  said  the  time 
would  come  when  they  tapped  the  coal  fields  that 
the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  would  want  the 
little  road  as  a  feeder." 

^^So  he  believed  the  Wyanoke  coal  fields  weren't 
worked  out,  eh?" 

''He  said  they  wa'nt  even  developed.  You  see  it 
was  all  a  secret,  and  they  didn't  pay  any  attention  to 
me,  because  I  was  just  a  common  miner." 

''And  couldn't  buy  a  railroad.  Well,  President,  if  it 
comes  to  anything,  you  shall  have  your  share.  Mean- 
while, I'll  run  out  to  Wyanoke  and  look  around." 

With  the  idea  still  in  my  mind,  I  went  into  the 
General's  office  next  day,  and  told  him  that  I  had 
decided  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  Union  Bank. 

"Well,  I'm  sorry  to  lose  you,  Ben.  Perhaps  you'll 
come  back  to  the  road  in  another  capacity  when  I 
am  dead.  It  will  be  a  bigger  road  then.  We're  buy- 
ing  up  the  Tennessee  and  Carolina,  you  know  " 


THE   MAX   AXD    THE    CLASS  265 

''It's  a  great  road  you've  made,  General,  and  I 
like  to  serve  it.  By  the  way,  I'm  going  to  West 
Virginia  in  a  day  or  two  to  have  a  look  at  the  West 
Virginia  and  Wyanoke.  What  do  you  know  of  the 
coal  fields  at  Wyanoke?" 

''No  'count  ones.  I  wouldn't  meddle  with  that 
little  road  if  I  were  you.  It  will  go  bankrupt  presently, 
and  then  we'll  buy  it,  I  suppose,  at  our  own  price. 
It  runs  through  scrub  land  populated  by  old  field 
pines.  How  is  that  miner  brother  of  yours,  Ben? 
I  saw^  Sally  at  the  theatre  with  him.  You've  got  a 
jewel,  my  boy,  there's  no  doubt  of  that.  When  I 
looked  at  her  sailing  down  the  room  on  his  arm  last 
night,  by  George,  I  wished  I  was  forty  years  younger 
and  married  to  her  myself." 

Some  hours  later  I  repeated  his  remark  to  SaUy, 
when  I  went  home  at  dusk  and  found  her  sitting  before 
a  wood  fire  in  her  bedroom,  with  her  hat  and  coat  on, 
just  as  she  had  dropped  there  after  a  drive  wdth 
President. 

"WeU,  I  wouldn't  have  the  General  at  any  age. 
You  needn't  be  jealous,  Ben,"  she  responded.  "I'm 
too  much  like  Aunt  Matoaca." 

"He  always  said  you  were,"  I  retorted,  "but,  oh, 
Sally,  you  are  an  angel !  When  I  saw  you  rise  at 
dinner  last  night,  I  wanted  to  squeeze  you  in  my 
arms  and  kiss  you  before  them  aU." 

The  little  scar  by  her  mouth  dimpled  with  the  old 
childish  expression  of  archness. 

"Suppose  you  do  it  now,  sir,"  she  rejoined,  with 
the  primness  of  Miss  Mitty,  and  a  little  later,  "What 
else  was  there  to  do  but  rise,  you  absurd  boy?     Poor 


266  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

mamma  used  to  tell  me  that  grandpapa  always  said 
to  her,  ^When  in  doubt  choose  the  kindest  way.'" 

^^And  yet  he  disinherited  his  favourite  daughter." 

'^  Which  only  proveS;  my  dear,  how  much  easier  it  is 
to  make  a  proverb  than  to  practise  it." 

''Do  you  know,  Sally,"  I  began  falteringly,  after  a 
minute,  ''there  is  something  I  ought  to  tell  you,  and 
that  is,  that  when  I  looked  up  at  the  table  last  night 
and  saw  President  in  the  doorway,  my  first  feeling 
was  one  of  shame." 

She  rubbed  her  cheek  softly  against  my  sleeve. 

"Shall  I  confess  something  just  as  dreadful?"  she 
asked.  "When  I  looked  up  and  saw  him  standing 
there  my  first  feeling  was  exactly  the  same." 

"Sally,  I  am  so  thankful." 

"You  wicked  creature,  to  want  me  to  be  as  bad  as 
yourself." 

"It  couldn't  have  lasted  with  you  but  a  second." 

"It  didn't,  but  a  second  is  an  hour  in  the  mind  of  a 
snob." 

"Well,  we  were  both  snobs  together,  and  that's 
some  comfort,  anyway." 

For  the  three  days  that  President  remained  with 
us  he  wore  my  clothes,  in  which  he  looked  more  than 
ever  like  a  miner  attired  for  church,  and  carried  him- 
self with  a  resigned  and  humble  manner. 

Sally  took  him  to  the  theatre  and  to  drive  with  her 
in  the  afternoon;  and  I  carried  him  to  the  General's 
office  and  over  the  Capitol,  which  he  surveyed  with 
awed  and  admiring  eyes.  Only  Jessy  still  shrank 
from  him,  and  not  once  during  his  visit  were  we  able 
to  prevail  upon  her  to  appear  with  him  in  the  presence 


THE   MAX   AND    THE   CLASS  267 

of  strangers.  There  was  always  an  excuse  ready  to 
trip  off  her  tongue  —  she  had  a  headache,  she  was 
going  to  the  dressmaker^s,  the  milliner's,  the  dentist's 
even;  and  I  honestly  believe  that  she  sought  cheer- 
fully this  last  place  of  torture  as  an  escape.  To  the 
end,  however,  he  regarded  her  with  an  affection  that 
fell  little  short  of  adoration. 

^^  Who'd  have  thought  that  little  Jessy  would  have 
shot  up  into  a  regular  beauty  !"  he  exclaimed  for  the 
twentieth  time  as  he  stood  ready  to  depart.  ^^She 
takes  arter  pa,  and  I  always  said  the  only  thing 
against  pa  was  that  he  wa'nt  born  a  female.'^ 

He  kissed  her  good-by  in  a  reverential  fashion,  and 
after  a  cordial,  though  exhausted,  leave-taking  from 
Sally,  we  went  together  to  West  Virginia.  In  spit€ 
of  the  General's  advice,  I  had  decided  to  take  a  look 
at  the  coal  fields  of  Wyanoke,  and  a  week  later,  when 
I  returned  to  Richmond,  I  was  the  owner  of  a  control 
of  the  little  West  Virginia  and  Wyanoke  Railroad.  It 
was  a  long  distance  from  the  presidency  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic,  but  I  watched  still  from 
some  vantage  ground  in  my  imagination,  the  gleam- 
ing tracks  of  the  big  road  sweeping  straight  on  to  the 
southern  horizon. 

For  the  next  few  years  there  was  hardly  a  shadow 
on  the  smiling  surface  of  our  prosperity.  Society  had 
received  us  in  spite  of  my  father,  in  spite  even  of  my 
brother;  and  the  day  that  had  made  me  Sally's  hus- 
band had  given  me  a  place,  if  an  alien  one,  in  the 
circle  in  which  she  moved.  I  was  there  at  last,  and  it 
was  neither  her  fault  nor  mine  if  I  carried  with  me 
into  that  stained-glass  atmosphere  something  of   the 


268  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

consciousness  of  the  market  boy,  who  seemed  to  stand 
always  at  the  kitchen  door.  Curiously  enough  there 
were  instants  even  now  when  I  felt  vaguely  aware 
that,  however  large  I  might  appear  to  loom  in  my 
physical  presence,  a  part  of  me  was,  in  reality,  still 
on  the  outside,  hovering  uncertainly  beyond  the 
threshold.  There  were  things  I  had  never  learned  — 
would  never  learn ;  things  that  belonged  so  naturally 
to  the  people  with  whom  I  lived  that  they  seemed 
only  aware  of  them  when  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  fact  of  their  absence.  The  lightness  of  life 
taught  me  nothing  except  that  I  was  built  in 
mind  and  in  body  upon  a  heavier  plan.  At  the 
dinner-table,  when  the  airy  talk  floated  about  me,  I 
felt  again  and  again  that  the  sparkling  trivialities 
settled  like  thistledown  upon  the  solid  mass  I  pre- 
sented, and  remained  there  because  of  my  native 
inability  to  waft  them  back.  It  was  still  as  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  entertain  pretty  girls  in  pink  tarlatan  as 
it  had  been  on  the  night  of  my  first  party;  and  the 
memory  of  that  disastrous  social  episode  stung  me  at 
times  when  I  stood  large  and  awkward  before  a  gay 
and  animated  maiden,  or  sat  wedged  in,  like  a  massive 
block,  between  two  patient  and  sleepy  mothers.  These 
people  were  all  Sally^s  friends,  not  mine,  and  it  was 
for  her  sake,  I  never  forgot  for  a  minute,  that  they 
had  accepted  me.  With  just  such  pleasant  conde- 
scension they  would  still  have  accepted  me,  I  knew, 
if  I  had,  in  truth,  entered  their  company  with  my 
basket  of  potatoes  or  carrots  on  my  arm.  One 
alone  held  out  unwaveringly  through  the  years;  for 
Miss  Mitty,  shut  with  her  pride  and  her  portraits  in 


THE   MAN   AND    THE   CLASS  269 

the  old  grey  house,  obstinately  closed  her  big  ma- 
hogany doors  against  our  repeated  friendly  advances. 
Sometimes  at  dusk,  as  I  passed  on  the  crooked  pave- 
ment under  the  two  great  sycamores,  I  would  glance 
up  at  the  windows,  where  the  red  firelight  glimmered 
on  the  small  square  panes,  and  fancy  that  I  saw  her 
long,  oval  face  gazing  down  on  me  from  between  the 
parted  lace  curtains.  But  she  made  no  sign  of  for- 
giveness, and  when  Sally  went  to  see  her,  as  she  did 
sometimes,  the  old  lady  received  her  formally  in  the 
drawing-room,  with  a  distant  and  stately  manner. 
She,  who  was  the  mixture  of  a  Bland  and  a  Fairfax, 
sat  enthroned  upon  her  traditions,  w^hile  we  of  the 
common,  outside  world  walked  by  under  the  silvery 
boughs  of  her  sycamores. 

^^Aunt  Mitty  has  told  Selim  not  to  admit  me,''  said 
Sally  one  day  at  luncheon.  ^^I  know  she  wasn't  out 
in  this  dreadful  March  wind  —  she  never  leaves  the 
house  except  in  summer  —  and  yet  when  I  went 
there,  he  told  me  positively  she  was  not  at  home. 
When  I  think  of  her  all  alone  hour  after  hour  with 
Aunt  Matoaca's  things  around  her,  I  feel  as  if  it  would 
break  my  heart.  George  says  she  is  looking  very 
badly." 

^^Does  George  see  her?"  I  asked,  glancing  up  from 
my  cup  of  coffee,  w^hile  I  waited  for  the  light  to  a 
cigar.  ^^I  didn't  imagine  he  had  enough  attentions 
left  over  from  his  hunters  to  bestow  upon  maiden 
ladies." 

The  sugar  tongs  were  in  her  hand,  and  she  looked 
not  at  me,  but  at  the  lump  of  sugar  poised  above  her 
cup,  as  she  answered. 


270  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'He  is  so  good." 

^^Good?"  I  echoed  lightly;  ^Mo  you  call  George 
good?     The  General  thinks  he's  a  sad  scamp.'' 

The  lump  of  sugar  dropped  with  a  splash  into  her 
cup,  and  her  eyes  were  dark  as  she  raised  them  quickly 
to  my  face.  Instinctively  I  felt,  with  a  blind  groping 
of  perception,  that  I  had  wounded  her  pride,  or  her 
loyalty,  or  some  other  hereditary  attribute  of  the 
Blands  and  the  Fairfaxes  that  I  could  not  comprehend. 

^^If  I  wanted  an  estimate  of  goodness,  I  don't  think 
I'd  go  to  the  General  as  an  authority,"  she  retorted. 

''I'm  sorry  you  never  liked  him,  Sally.  He's  a 
great  man." 

'^Well,  he  isn't  my  great  man  anyway,"  she  re- 
torted.    '^I  prefer  Dr.  Theophilus  or  George." 

I  laughed  gayly.  ''The  doctor  is  a  molh^coddle  and 
George  is  a  fop."  My  tone  was  jaunty,  yet  her  words 
were  like  the  prick  of  a  needle  in  a  sensitive  place. 
What  was  her  praise  of  George  except  the  confession 
of  an  appreciation  of  the  very  things  that  I  could 
never  possess?  I  knew  she  loved  me  and  not  George 
—  was  not  her  marriage  a  proof  of  this  sufficient  to 
cover  a  lifetime  ?  —  yet  I  knew  also  that  the  external 
graces  which  I  treated  with  scorn  because  I  lacked 
them,  held  for  her  the  charm  of  habit,  of  association, 
of  racial  memory.  Would  the  power  in  me  that  had 
captured  her  serve  as  well  through  a  future  of  familiar 
possession  as  it  had  served  in  the  supreme  moment  of 
conquest?  I  could  not  go  through  life,  as  I  had 
once  said,  forever  pushing  a  wheel  up  a  hill,  and  the 
strength  of  a  shoulder  might  prove,  after  all,  less 
effective  in  the  freedom  of  daily  intercourse  than  the 


THE   MAN   AND    THE    CLASS  271 

quickness  or  delicacy  of  a  manner.  Would  she  begin 
to  regret  presently,  I  wondered,  the  lack  in  the  man 
she  loved  of  those  smaller  virtues  which  in  the  first 
rosy  glow  of  romance  had  seemed  to  her  insignificant 
and  of  little  worth? 

^^  There  are  worse  things  than  a  mollycoddle  or  a 
fop/'  she  rejoined  after  a  pause,  and  added  quickly, 
while  old  Esdras  left  the  dining-room  to  answer  a  ring 
at  the  bell,  ^'That's  either  Bonny  Page  or  George 
now.     One  of  them  is  coming  to  take  me  out.'' 

For  a  moment  I  hoped  foolishly  that  the  visitor 
might  be  Bonny  Page,  but  the  sound  of  George's 
pleasant  drawling  voice  was  heard  speaking  to  old 
Esdras,  and  as  the  curtains  swung  back,  he  crossed 
the  threshold  and  came  over  to  take  Sally's  out- 
stretched hand. 

''You're  lunching  late  to-day,"  he  said.  ^'I  don't 
often  find  you  here  at  this  hour,  Ben." 

"No,  I'm  not  a  man-about-town  like  you,"  I  re- 
plied, pushing  the  cigars  and  the  lamp  toward  him; 
"the  business  of  living  takes  up  too  much  of  my 
time." 

He  leaned  over,  without  replying  to  me,  hi5  hand 
on  the  back  of  Sally's  chair,  his  eyes  on  her  face. 

"It's  all  right,  Sally,"  he  said  in  a  low  voice,  and 
when  he  drew  back,  I  saw  that  he  had  laid  a  spray  of 
sweet  alyssum  on  the  table  beside  her  plate. 

Her  eyes  shone  suddenly  as  if  she  were  looking  at 
sujilight,  and  when  she  smiled  up  at  him,  there  was 
an  expression  in  her  face,  half  gratitude,  half  admira- 
tion, that  made  it  very  beautiful.  While  I  watched 
her,  I  tried  to  overcome  an  uo:lv  irrational  resentment 


272  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

because  George  had  been  the  one  to  call  that  tremu- 
lous new  beauty  into  existence, 

^^How  like  you  it  was/'  she  returned,  almost  in  a 
whisper,  with  the  spray  of  sweet  alyssum  held  to  her 
lips,  ^^and  how  can  I  thank  you?'' 

His  slightly  wooden  features,  flushed  now  with  a 
fine  colour,  as  if  he  had  been  riding  in  the  March  wind, 
softened  until  I  hardly  knew  them.  Standing  there  in 
his  immaculate  clothes,  with  his  carefully  groomed 
mustache  hiding  a  trembling  mouth,  he  had  become, 
J  realised  vaguely,  a  George  with  whom  the  General 
and  I  possessed  hardly  so  much  as  an  acquaintance. 
The  man  before  me  was  a  man  whom  Sally  had  in- 
voked into  being,  and  it  seemed  to  me,  as  I  watched 
them,  that  she  had  awakened  in  George,  who  had  lost 
her,  some  quality  —  inscrutable  and  elusive  —  that 
she  had  never  aroused  in  the  man  to  whom  she  be- 
longed. What  this  quality  was,  or  wherein  it  lay,  I 
could  not  then  define.  Understanding,  sympathy, 
perception,  none  of  these  words  covered  it,  yet  it  ap- 
peared to  contain  and  possess  them  all.  The  mere 
fact  of  its  existence,  and  that  I  recognised  without 
explaining  it,  had  the  effect  of  a  barrier  which  sepa- 
rated me  for  the  moment  from  my  wife  and  the  man 
to  whom  she  was  related  by  the  ties  of  race  and  of 
class.  Again  I  was  aware  of  that  sense  of  strangeness, 
of  remoteness,  which  I  had  felt  on  the  night  of  our 
home-coming  when  I  had  stood,  spellbound,  before 
Bonny  Page's  exquisite  grooming  and  the  shining 
gloss  on  her  hair  and  boots.  Something — a  trifle, 
perhaps,  had  passed  between  Sally  and  George  — 
and  the  reason  I  did  not  understand  it  was  because 


THE   MAX    AXD    THE   CLASS  273 

I  belonged  to  another  order  and  had  inherited  differ- 
ent perceptions  from  theirs.  The  trifle  —  whatever 
it  was  —  appeared  visibly,  I  knew,  before  us ;  it  was 
evident  and  on  the  surface,  and  if  I  failed  to  discern 
it  what  did  that  prove  except  the  shortness  of  the 
vision  through  which  I  looked?  A  physical  soreness, 
like  that  of  a  new  bruise,  attacked  my  heart,  and 
rising  hastily  from  the  table,  I  made  some  hurried 
apology  and  went  out,  leaving  them  alone  together. 
Glancing  back  as  I  got  into  my  overcoat  in  the 
hall,  I  saw  that  Sally  still  held  the  spray  of  sweet 
alyssum  to  her  lips,  and  that  the  look  George  bent 
on  her  was  transfigured  by  the  tenderness  that 
flooded  his  face  with  colour.  She  loved  me,  she  was 
mine,  and  yet  at  this  instant  she  had  turned  to  an- 
other man  for  a  keener  comprehension,  a  subtler  sym- 
pathy, than  I  could  give.  A  passion,  not  of  jealousy, 
but  of  hurt  pride,  throbbed  in  my  heart,  and  by  some 
curious  eccentricity  of  emotion,  this  pride  was  asso- 
ciated with  a  rush  of  ambition,  with  the  impelling 
desire  to  succeed  to  the  fullest  in  the  things  in  which 
success  was  possible.  If  I  could  not  give  what  George 
gave,  I  would  give.  I  told  myself  passionately,  some- 
thing far  better.  When  the  struggle  came  closer  be- 
tween the  class  and  the  individual,  I  had  little  doubt 
that  the  claims  of  tradition  would  yield  as  they  had 
always  done  to  the  possession  of  power.  Only  let 
that  power  find  its  fullest  expression,  and  I  should 
stand  to  George  Bolingbroke  as  the  living  present  of 
action  stands  to  the  dead  past  of  history.  After  all, 
what  I  had  to  give  was  my  own,  hewn  by  my  own 
strength  out  of  life,  while  the  thing  in  which  he  ex- 


274  THE   ROMA^XE   OF   A   PLAIX   MAN 

celled  was  merely  a  web  of  delicate  fibre  woven  by 
generations  of  hands  that  had  long  since  crumbled  to 
dust.  Triumph  over  him,  I  resolved  that  I  would  in 
the  end,  and  the  way  to  triumph  led,  I  knew,  through 
a  future  of  outward  achievement  to  the  dazzling  presi- 
dency of  the  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad. 

As  time  went  on  this  passionate  ambition,  which 
was  so  closely  bound  up  with  my  love  for  Sally, 
absorbed  me  even  to  the  exclusion  of  the  feeling  from 
which  it  had  drawn  its  greatest  strength.  The  re- 
sponsibilities of  my  position,  the  partial  control  of 
the  large  sums  of  money  that  passed  through  my 
hands,  crowded  my  days  with  schemes  and  anxieties, 
and  kept  me  tossing,  sleepless  yet  with  wearied  brain, 
through  many  a  night.  For  pleasure  I  had  no  time; 
Sally  I  saw^  only  for  a  hurried  or  an  absent-minded 
hour  or  two  at  meals,  or  when  I  came  up  too  tired 
to  think  or  to  talk  in  the  evenings.  Often  I  fell 
asleep  over  my  cigar  after  dinner,  while  she  dressed 
and  hastened,  with  her  wTeathed  head  and  bare 
shoulders,  to  a  reception  or  a  ball.  A  third  of  my 
time  was  spent  in  New  York,  and  during  my  absence, 
it  never  occurred  to  me  to  enquire  how  she  filled  her 
long,  empty  days.  She  was  sure  of  me,  she  trusted 
me,  I  knew;  and  in  the  future,  I  told  myself  when  I 
had  leisure  to  think  of  it  —  next  year,  perhaps  —  I 
should  begin  again  to  play  the  part  of  an  ardent 
lover.  She  was  as  desirable  —  she  was  far  dearer  to 
me  than  she  had  ever  been  in  her  life,  but  while  I 
held  her  safe  and  close  in  my  clasp,  my  mind  reached 
out  Tsdth  its  indomitable  energy  aft-er  the  uncertain, 
the  unattained.     I  had  my  wife  —  what  I  wanted  now 


THE   MAN   AND   THE   CLASS  27o 

was  a  fortune  and  a  great  name  to  lay  at  her 
feet. 

And  all  these  months  did  she  ever  question^  ever 
ask  herself,  while  she  w^atched  me  struggling  day  after 
day  with  the  lust  for  power,  if  the  thing  that  I  sought 
to  give  her  would  in  the  end  turn  to  Dead  Sea  fruit 
at  her  lips?  Question  she  may  have  done  in  her 
heart,  but  no  hint  of  it  ever  reached  me  —  no  com- 
plaint of  her  marriage  ever  disturbed  the  outward 
serenity  in  which  we  lived.  Yet,  deep  in  myself,  I 
heard  always  a  still  small  voice,  which  told  me  that 
she  demanded  something  far  subtler  and  finer  than  I 
had  given  —  something  that  belonged  inherently  to  the 
nature  of  George  Bolingbroke  rather  than  to  mine. 
Even  now,  though  she  loved  me  and  not  George,  it 
was  George  who  was  always  free,  who  was  always 
amiable,  who  was  always  just  ready  and  just  waiting 
to  be  called.  On  another  day,  a  month  or  two  later, 
he  came  in  again  with  his  blossom  of  sw^et  alyssum, 
and  again  her  eyes  grew  shining  and  grateful,  w^hile 
the  old  bruise  throbbed  quickly  to  life  in  my  heart. 

^^Is  it  all  right  still?"  she  asked,  and  he  answered, 
^'All  right,"  with  his  rare  smile,  which  lent  a  singular 
charm  to  his  softened  features. 

Then  he  glanced  across  at  me  and  made,  I  realised, 
an  effort  to  be  friendly. 

'^You  ought  to  get  a  horse,  Ben,"  he  remarked,  ^4t 
w^ould  keep  you  from  getting  glum.  If  you'd  hunted 
with  us  yesterday,  you  would  have  seen  Bonny  Page 
take  a  gate  like  a  bird." 

''I  tried  to  follow,"  said  Sally,  ''but  Prince  Charlie 
refused." 


276  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''You  mean  I  wouldn't  let  go  your  bridle/'  re- 
turned George,  in  a  half -playful,  half -serious  tone. 

The  bruise  throbbed  again.  Here,  also,  I  was  shut 
out  —  I  who  had  carried  potatoes  to  George's  door 
while  he  was  off  learning  to  follow  the  hounds.  His 
immaculate,  3^et  careless,  dress;  the  perfection  of  his 
manner,  which  seemed  to  make  him  a  part  of  the 
surroundings  in  which  he  stood ;  the  very  smoothness 
and  slenderness  of  the  hand  that  rested  on  Sally's  chair 
—  all  these  produced  in  me  a  curious  and  unreasonable 
sensation  of  anger. 

''I  forbid  you  to  jump,  Sally,"  I  said,  almost  sharply  ; 
''you  know  I  hate  it." 

She  leaned  forward,  glancing  first  at  me  and  then 
at  George,  with  an  expression  of  surprise. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Ben?"  she  asked.  "He's 
a  perfect  bear,  isn't  he,  George?" 

"The  best  way  to  keep  her  from  jumping,"  observed 
George,  pleasantly  enough,  though  his  face  flushed,  "is 
to  be  on  the  spot  to  catch  her  bridle  or  her  horse's 
mane  or  anything  else  that's  handy.  It's  the  only 
means  I've  found  successful,  for  there  was  never  a 
Bland  yet  who  didn't  go  straight  ahead  and  do  the 
thing  he  was  forbidden  to.  Miss  Mitty  told  me  with 
pride  that  she  had  been  eating  lobster,  which  she 
always  hated,  and  I  discovered  her  only  reason  was 
that  the  doctor  had  ordered  her  not  to  touch  it." 

'^Then  I  shan't  forbid,  I'll  entreat,"  I  replied,  re- 
covering myself  with  an  effort.  "Please  don't  jump, 
Sally,  I  implore  it." 

"I  won't  jump  if  you'll  come  with  me,  Ben,"  she 
answered. 


THE   MAN   AND   THE   CLASS  277 

I  laughed  shortly,  for  how  was  it  possible  to  ex- 
plain to  two  Virginians  of  their  blood  and  habits 
that  a  man  of  six  feet  two  inches  could  not  sit  a  horse 
for  the  first  time  without  appearing  ridiculous  in  the 
eyes  even  of  the  woman  who  loved  him?  They  had 
grown  up  together  in  the  fields  or  at  the  stables,  and 
a  knowledge  of  horse-flesh  was  as  much  a  part  of  their 
birthright  as  the  observance  of  manners.  The  one  I 
could  never  acquire ;  the  other  I  had  attained  un- 
aided and  in  the  face  of  the  tremendous  barriers  that 
shut  me  out.  The  repeated  insistence  upon  the  fact 
that  Sally  was  a  Bland  aroused  in  me,  whenever  I 
met  it,  an  irritation  which  I  tried  in  vain  to  dispel. 
To  be  a  Bland  meant,  after  all,  simply  to  be  removed 
as  far  as  possible  from  any  temperamental  relation 
to  the  race  of  Starrs. 

^^I  wish  I  could,  dear,^'  I  answered,  as  I  rose  to  go 
out,  '^but  remember,  I've  never  been  on  a  horse  in  my 
life  and  it's  too  late  to  begin." 

^'Oh,  I  forgot.  Of  course  you  can't,"  she  rejoined. 
''So  if  George  isn't  strong  enough  to  hold  me  back, 
I'll  have  to  go  straight  after  Bonny." 

''I  promise  you  I'll  swing  on  ^vith  all  my  might, 
Ben,"  said  George,  with  a  laugh  in  which  I  felt  there 
was  an  amiable  condescension,  as  from  the  best  horse- 
man in  his  state  to  a  man  who  had  never  ridden  to 
hounds. 

A  little  later,  as  I  walked  down  the  street,  past  the 
old  grey  house,  under  the  young  budding  leaves  of  the 
sycamores,  the  recollection  of  this  amiable  condescen- 
sion returned  to  me  like  the  stab  of  a  knife.  The 
image  of  Sally,  mounted  on  Prince  Charlie,  at  George's 


278  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

side;  troubled  my  thoughts,  and  I  worxdered,  with  a 
pang,  if  the  people  who  saw  them  together  would  ask 
themselves  curiously  why  she  had  chosen  me.  To 
one  and  all  of  them,  —  to  Miss  Mitty,  to  Bonny  Page, 
to  Dr.  Theophilus,  —  the  mystery,  I  felt,  was  as  ob- 
scure to-day  as  it  had  been  in  the  beginning  of  our 
love.  Why  was  it?  I  questioned  angrily,  and  wherein 
lay  the  subtle  distinction  which  divided  my  nature 
from  George  Bolingbroke's  and  even  from  Sally's  ?  The 
forces  of  democracy  had  made  way  for  me,  and  yet 
was  there  something  stronger  than  democracy  — 
and  this  something,  fine  and  invincible  as  a  blade,  I 
had  felt  long  ago  in  the  presence  of  Miss  Mitty  and 
Miss  Matoaca.  Over  my  head,  under  the  spreading 
boughs  of  the  sycamore,  a  window  was  lifted,  and 
between  the  parted  lace  curtains,  the  song  of  Miss 
Mitty's  canary  float-ed  out  into  the  street.  As  the 
music  entered  my  thoughts,  I  remembered  suddenly 
the  box  of  sweet  alyssum  blooming  on  the  window- 
sill  under  the  swinging  cage,  and  there  flashed  into 
my  consciousness  the  meaning  of  the  flowers  George 
had  laid  beside  Sally's  plate.  For  her  sake  he  had 
gone  to  Miss  Mitty  in  the  sad  old  house,  and  that  little 
blossom  was  the  mute  expression  of  a  service  he  had 
rendered  joyfully  in  the  name  of  love.  The  gratitude 
in  Sally's  eyes  was  made  clear  to  me,  and  a  helpless 
rage  at  my  own  blindness,  my  own  denseness,  flooded 
my  heart.  George,  because  of  some  inborn  fineness 
of  perception,  had  discerned  the  existence  of  a  sorrow 
in  my  wife  to  which  I,  the  man  whom  she  loved  and 
who  loved  her,  had  been  insensible.  He  had  under- 
stood   and    had    comforted  —  while    I,    engrossed    in 


THE   MAN   AND   THE   CLASS  279 

larger  matters,  had  gone  on  my  way  unheeding  and 
indifferent.  Then  the  anger  against  myself  turned 
blindly  upon  George,  and  I  demanded  passionately  if 
he  would  stand  forever  in  my  life  as  the  embodiment 
of  instincts  and  perceptions  that  the  generations  had 
bred?  Would  I  fail  forever  in  little  things  because  I 
had  been  cursed  at  birth  by  an  inability  to  see  any 
except  big  ones?  And  where  I  failed  would  George 
be  always  ready  to  fill  the  unspoken  need  and  to 
bestow  the  unasked-for  sympathy? 


CHAPTEE   XXIII 

IN  WHICH   I   WALK   ON   THIN   ICE 

On  a  November  evening,  when  vre  had  been  married 
several  years,  I  came  home  after  seven  o'clock,  and 
found  Sally  standing  before  the  bureau  while  she 
fastened  a  bunch  of  violets  to  the  bosom  of  her  gown. 

^^I'm  sorry  I  couldn't  get  up  earlier,  but  there's  a 
good  deal  of  excitement  over  a  failure  in  Wall  Street," 
I  said.     ^^Are  you  going  out? " 

Her  hands  fell  from  her  bosom,  and  as  she  turned 
toward  me,  I  saw  that  she  was  dressed  as  though  for  a 
baU. 

^^Not  to-night,  Ben.  I  had  an  engagement,  but  I 
broke  it  because  I  wanted  to  spend  the  evening  with 
you.  I  thought  we  might  have  a  nice  cosy  time  all 
by  ourselves." 

^^What  a  shame,  darling.  I've  promised  Bradley 
I'd  do  a  little  work  ^\ith  him  in  my  study.  He's  com- 
ing at  half-past  eight  and  will  probably  keep  me  till 
midnight.  I'll  have  to  hurry.  Did  you  put  on  that 
gorgeous  gown  just  for  me?" 

'^Just  for  you."  There  was  an  expression  on  her 
face,  half  humorous,  half  resentful,  that  I  had  never 
seen  there  before.  '^What  day  is  this,  Ben?"  she 
asked,  as  I  was  about  to  enter  my  dressing-room. 

'^The  nineteenth  of  November,"  I  replied  carelessly, 
looking  back  at  her  with  my  hand  on  the  door. 

280 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   ON    THIN   ICE  281 

'^The  nineteenth  of  November,"  she  echoed  slowly, 
as  if  saying  the  words  to  herself. 

I  was  already  on  the  threshold  when  light  broke  on 
me  in  a  flash,  and  I  turned,  blind  with  remorse,  and 
seized  her  in  my  arms. 

^^ Sally,  Sally,  I  am  a  brute!" 

She  laughed  a  little,  drawing  away,  not  coming  closer. 

''Ben,  are  you  happy?" 

'*As  happy  as  a  king.  I'll  telephone  Bradley  not  to 
come." 

''Is  it  important?" 

"Yes,  very  important.  That  failure  I  told  you  of  is 
a  pretty  serious  matter." 

"Then  let  him  come.  All  days  are  the  same,  after 
all,  when  one  comes  to  think  of  it." 

Her  hand  went  to  the  violets  at  her  breast,  and  as  my 
eyes  followed  it,  a  sudden  intuitive  dread  entered  my 
mind  like  an  impulse  of  rage. 

"I  intended  to  send  you  flowers,  Sally,  but  in  the 
rush,  I  forgot.     Whose  are  those  you  are  wearing?" 

She  moved  slightly,  and  the  perfume  of  the  violets 
floated  from  the  cloud  of  lace  on  her  bosom. 

"George  sent  them,"  she  answered  quietly. 

Before  she  spoke  I  had  known  it  —  the  curse  of  my 
life  was  to  be  that  George  would  always  remember  — • 
and  the  intuitive  dread  I  had  felt  changed,  while  I  stood 
there,  to  the  dull  ache  of  remorse. 

"Take  them  off,  and  I'll  get  you  others  if  there's  a 
shop  open  in  the  city,"  I  said.  Then,  as  she  hesitated, 
wavering  between  doubt  and  surprise,  I  left  the  room, 
descended  the  steps  with  a  rush,  and  picking  up  my 
hat,  hurried  in  search  of  a  belated  florist  who  had  not 


282  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

closed.  At  the  corner  a  man,  going  out  to  dine,  paused 
to  fasten  his  overcoat  under  the  electric  light,  which 
blazed  fitfully  in  the  wind ;  and  as  I  approached  and  he 
looked  up,  I  saw  that  it  was  George  Bohngbroke. 

^'It's  time  all  sober  married  men  were  at  home  dress- 
ing for  dinner,"  he  observed  in  a  whimsical  tone. 

The  wind  had  brought  a  glow  of  colour  into  his  face, 
and  he  looked  very  handsome  as  he  stood  there,  in  his 
fur-lined  coat,  under  the  blaze  of  light. 

''I  was  kept  late  down  town,"  I  repKed.  ''The 
General  and  I  get  all  the  hard  knocks  while  you  take 
it  easy." 

''Well,  I  like  an  easy  world,  and  I  believe  your  world 
is  pretty  much  about  what  you  make  it.  Where 
are  you  rushing?     Do  you  go  my  way?" 

''No,  I'm  turning  off  here.  There's  something  I 
forgot  this  morning  and  I  came  out  to  attend  to  it." 

"Don't  fall  into  the  habit  of  forgetting.  It's  a  bad 
one  and  it's  sure  to  grow  on  you  —  and  whatever  you 
forget,"  he  added  T^dth  a  laugh  as  we  parted,  "don't  for- 
get for  a  minute  of  your  life  that  you've  married  Sally." 

He  passed  on,  still  laughing  pleasantly,  and  quicken- 
ing my  steps,  I  went  to  the  corner  of  Broad  Street, 
where  I  found  a  florist's  shop  still  lighted  and  filled 
with  customers.  There  were  no  violets  left,  and  while 
I  waited  for  a  sheaf  of  pink  roses,  with  my  eyes  on  the 
elaborate  funeral  designs  covering  the  counter,  I 
heard  a  voice  speaking  in  a  low  tone  beyond  a  mass  of 
flowering  azalea  beside  which  I  stood. 

"Yes,  her  mother  married  beneath  her,  also,"  it 
said;  "that  seems  to  be  the  unfortunate  habit  of  the 
Blands." 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK  ON    THIN   ICE  283 

I  turned  quickly,  my  face  hot  with  anger,  and  as  I 
did  so  my  eyes  met  those  of  a  dark,  pale  lady,  through 
the  thick  rosy  clusters  of  the  azalea.  When  she 
recognised  me,  she  flushed  slightly,  and  then  moving 
slowly  around  the  big  green  tub  that  divided  us,  she 
held  out  her  hand  with  a  startled  and  birdlike  flutter 
of  manner. 

^^I  missed  you  at  the  reception  last  night,  Mr.  Starr, ^' 
she  said;  '^ Sally  was  there,  and  I  had  never  seen  her 
looking  so  handsome.^' 

Then  as  the  sheaf  of  roses  was  handed  to  me,  she 
vanished  behind  the  azaleas  again,  while  I  turned 
quickly  away  and  carried  my  fragrant  armful  out  into 
the  night. 

When  I  reached  home,  I  was  met  on  the  staircase  by 
Jessy,  who  ran,  laughing,  before  me  to  Sally,  with  the 
remark  that  I  had  come  back  bringing  an  entire  rose 
garden  in  my  hands. 

^^ There  weren't  any  violets  left,  darling,'^  I  said,  as  I 
entered  and  tossed  the  flowers  on  the  couch,  '^and  even 
these  roses  aren't  fresh." 

^^Well,  they're  sweet  anyway,  poor  things,"  she 
returned,  gathering  them'into  her  lap,  while  her  hands 
caressed  the  half-opened  petals.  ^^It  was  like  you, 
Ben,  when  you  did  remember,  to  bring  me  the  whole 
shopful." 

Breaking  one  from  the  long  stem,  she  fastened  it  in 
place  of  the  violets  in  the  cloud  of  lace  on  her  bosom. 

^^Pink  suits  me  better,  after  all,"  she  remarked 
gayly ;  ^^  and  now  you  must  let  Bradley  come,  and  Jessy 
and  I  will  go  to  the  theatre." 

^'I  suppose  he'll  have  to  come,"  I  said    moodily, 


284  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

*'but  I'll  be  up  earlier  to-morrow,  Sally,  if  I  wreck  the 
bank  in  order  to  do  it." 

All  the  next  day  I  kept  the  importance  of  fulfilling 
this  promise  in  my  mind,  and  at  five  o'clock,  I  abruptly 
broke  off  a  business  appointment  to  rush  breathlessly 
home  in  the  hope  of  finding  Sally  ready  to  walk  or  to 
drive.  As  I  turned  the  corner,  however,  I  saw,  to  my 
disappointment,  that  several  riding  horses  were  wait- 
ing under  the  young  maples  beside  the  pavement,  and 
when  I  entered  the  house,  I  heard  the  merry  flutelike 
tones  of  Bonny  Page  from  the  long  drawing-room, 
where  Sally  was  serving  tea. 

For  a  minute  the  unconquerable  shyness  I  always 
felt  in  the  presence  of  women  held  me,  rooted  in  silence, 
on  the  threshold.  Then,  ^^Is  that  you,  Ben?"  floated 
to  me  in  Sally's  voice,  and  pushing  the  curtains  aside, 
I  entered  the  room  and  crossed  to  the  little  group 
gathered  before  the  fire.  In  the  midst  of  it,  I  saw  the 
tall,  almost  boyish  figure  of  Bonny  Page,  and  the  sight 
of  her  gallant  air  and  her  brilliant,  vivacious  smile 
aroused  in  me  instantly  the  oppressive  self-conscious- 
ness of  our  first  meeting.  I  remembered  suddenly  that 
I  had  dressed  carelessly  in  the  morning,  that  I  had  tied 
my  cravat  in  a  hurry,  that  my  coat  fitted  me  badly  and 
I  had  neglected  to  send  it  back.  All  the  innumerable 
details  of  life  —  the  little  things  I  despised  or  over- 
looked —  swarmed,  like  stinging  gnats,  into  my 
thoughts  while  I  stood  there. 

^'You're  just  in  time  for  tea,  Ben,"  said  Sally;  ^'it's 
a  pity  you  don't  drink  it." 

^'And  you're  just  in  time  for  a  scolding,"  remarked 
Bonny.     ''Do  you  know,   if  I   had   a  husband   who 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   OX    THIN   ICE  285 

wouldn^t  ride  with  me,  I'd  gallop  off  the  first  time  I 
went  hunting  with  another  man." 

''You'd  better  start,  Ben.  It  wouldn't  take  you 
three  days  to  foUow  Bonny  over  a  gate,"  said  Xed 
Marshall,  one  of  her  many  lovers,  eager,  I  detected  at 
once,  to  appear  intimate  and  friendly.  He  w^as  a  fine, 
strong,  athletic  young  fellow,  with  a  handsome,  smooth- 
shaven  face,  a  slightly  vacant  laugh,  and  a  figure  that 
showed  superbly  in  his  loose-fitting  riding  clothes. 

^^W'hen  I  get  the  time.  Til  buy  a  horse  and  begin," 
I  replied ;  ''but  all  hours  are  working  hours  to  me  now, 
Sally  ^ill  tell  you." 

''It's  exactly  as  if  I'd  married  a  railroad  engine,^' 
remarked  Sally,  laughing,  and  I  reahsed  by  the  strained 
look  in  their  faces,  that  this  absorption  in  larger 
matters  —  this  unchangeable  habit  of  thought  that 
I  could  not  shake  off  even  in  a  dra^N-ing-room  — 
puzzled  them,  because  of  their  inherent  incapacity  to 
understand  how  it  could  be.  My  mind,  which  re- 
sponded so  promptly  to  the  need  for  greater  exertions, 
was  reduced  to  mere  leaden  w- eight  by  this  restless 
movement  of  little  things.  And  this  leaden  weight, 
this  strained  effort  to  become  something  other  than  I 
was  by  nature,  was  reflected  in  the  smiling  faces  around 
me  as  in  a  mirror.  The  embarrassment  in  my  thoughts 
extended  suddenly  to  my  body,  and  I  asked  myself 
the  next  minute  if  Sally  contrasted  my  heavy  silence 
with  the  blithe  self-confidence  and  the  sportive  pleas- 
antries of  Xed  Marshall?  Was  she  beginning  already, 
unconsciously  to  her  own  heart,  perhaps,  to  question 
if  the  passion  I  had  given  her  would  suffice  to  cover 
in  her  life  the  absence  of  the  unspoken  harmony  in 


286  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

outward  things  ?  With  the  question  there  rose  before 
me  the  figure  of  George  Bolingbroke,  as  he  bent  over 
and  laid  the  blossom  of  sweet  alyssum  beside  her 
plate ;  and,  as  at  the  instant  in  which  I  had  watched 
him,  I  felt  again  the  physical  soreness  which  had 
become  a  part  of  my  furious  desire  to  make  good  my 
stand. 

When  Bonny  and  Ned  Marshall  had  m^ounted  and 
ridden  happily  away  in  the  dusk,  Sally  came  back  with 
me  from  the  door,  and  stood,  silent  and  pensive,  for  a 
moment,  while  she  stroked  my  arm. 

''You  look  tired,  Ben.  If  you  only  wouldn't  work  so 
hard.'' 

''I  must  work.     It's  the  only  thing  I'm  good  for." 

''But  I  see  so  little  of  you  and  —  and  I  get  so  lonely." 

"When  I've  won  out,  I'll  stop,  and  then  you  shall 
see  me  every  living  minute  of  the  day,  if  you  choose." 

"That's  so  far  off,  and  it's  now^  I  want  you.  I'd 
like  you  to  take  me  away,  Ben  —  to  take  me  some- 
where just  as  you  did  when  we  were  married." 

Her  face  was  very  soft  in  the  firelight,  and  stooping,  I 
kissed  her  cheek  as  she  looked  up  at  me,  with  a  grave, 
almost  pensive  smile  on  her  lips. 

"I  wish  I  could,  sweetheart,  but  I'm  needed  here  so 
badly  that  I  don't  dare  run  off  for  a  day.  You've 
married  a  working-man,  and  he's  obliged  to  stick  to  his 
place." 

She  said  nothing  more  to  persuade  me,  but  from  that 
evening  until  the  spring,  when  our  son  was  born,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  she  retreated  farther  and  farther 
into  that  pale  dream  distance  where  I  had  first  seen  and 
desired  her.     With  the  coming  of  the  child  I  got  her 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   ON   THIN   ICE  28T 

back  to  earth  and  to  reality,  and  when  the  warm  little 
body,  wrapped  in  flannels,  was  first  placed  in  my  arms, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  the  thrill  of  the  mere  physical 
contact  had  in  it  something  of  the  peculiar  starlike 
radiance  of  my  bridal  night.  Sally,  lying  upon  the 
pillow  under  a  blue  satin  coverlet,  smiled  up  at  me  with 
flushed  cheeks  and  eyes  shining  with  love,  and  while 
I  stood  there,  some  divine  significance  in  her  look,  in 
her  helplessness,  in  the  oneness  of  the  three  of  us  drawn 
together  in  that  little  circle  of  life,  moved  my  heart 
to  the  faint  quiver  of  apprehension  that  had  come  to 
me  while  I  stood  by  her  side  before  the  altar  in  old 
Saint  John's. 

When  she  w^as  well,  and  the  long,  still  days  of  the 
summer  opened,  little  Benjamin  was  wrapped  in  a  blue 
veil  and  taken  in  Aunt  Euphronasia's  arms  to  visit 
Miss  Mitty  in  the  old  grey  house. 

'^  What  did  she  say,  mammy?  How  did  she  receive 
him?''  asked  Sally  eagerly,  when  the  old  negress 
returned. 

^^She  ain'  said  nuttin'  'tall,  honey,  cep'n  ^huh,'  ^' 
replied  Aunt  Euphronasia,  in  an  aggrieved  and  resent- 
ful tone.  ''Dar  she  wuz  a-settin'  jes'  ez  prim  by  de 
side  er  dat  ar  box  er  sweet  alyssum,  en  ez  soon  ez  I  lay 
eyes  on  her,  I  said,  ^  Howdy,  Miss  Mitty,  hyer's  Marse 
Ben's  en  Miss  Sally's  baby  done  come  to  see  you.' 
Den  she  kinder  turnt  her  haid,  like  oner  dese  yer  ole 
wedder  cocks  on  a  roof,  en  she  looked  me  spang  in  de 
eye  en  said  'huh'  out  right  flat  jes'  like  dat." 

'^  But  didn't  you  show  her  his  pretty  blue  eyes, 
mammy?  "  persisted  Sally. 

^^  Go  way  f 'om  hyer,  chile,  Miss  Mitty  done  seen  de 


288  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

eyes  er  a  baby  befo^  now.  I  knowed  dat,  en  I  lowed  in 
my  mind  dat  you  ain'  gwinter  git  aroun^  her  by  pre- 
tendin'  you  kin  show  her  nuttin\  So  I  jes'  begin  ter 
sidle  up  ter  her  en  kinder  talk  sof  ez  ef  n  I  'uz  a-talkin^ 
ter  myself.  ^Dish  yer  chile  is  jes'  de  spi't  er  Marse 
Bland/  I  sez,  'en  dar  ain'  noner  de  po'  wite  trash  in  de 
look  er  him  needer.'" 

''Aunt  Euphronasia,  how  dare  you!"  said  Sally, 
sternly. 

"Well;  'tis  de  trufe,  ain't  hit?  Dar  ain'  nuttin  er  de 
po'  wite  trash  in  de  look  er  him,  is  dar?" 

"And  what  did  she  say  then.  Aunt  Euphronasia?" 

"Who?  Miss  Mitty?  She  sez  'huh'  again  jes' 
ez  she  done  befo'.  Miss  Mitty  ain't  de  kind  dat's 
gwinter  eat  her  words,  honey.  W'at  she  sez,  she  sez,  en 
she's  gwinter  stick  up  ter  hit.  The  hull  time  I  'uz 
dar,  I  ain'  never  yearn  nuttin'  but  '  huh ! '  pass  thoo 
her  mouf." 

"I  knew  she  was  proud,  Ben,  but  I  didn't  know  she 
was  so  cruel  as  to  visit  it  on  this  precious  angel,"  said 
Sally,  on  the  point  of  tears;  "and  I  believe  Jessy  is 
the  same  way.  Nobody  cares  about  him  except  his 
doting  mother." 

"What's  become  of  his  doting  father?" 

"Oh,  his  doting  father  is  entirely  too  busy  with  his 
darling  stocks." 

"Sally,"  I  asked  seriously,  "don't  you  understand 
that  all  this  —  everything  I'm  doing  —  is  just  for  you 
and  the  boy?" 

"Is  it,  Ben?"  she  responded,  and  the  next  minute, 
"Of  course,  I  understand  it.     How  could  I  help  it?" 

She  was  always  reasonable  —  it  was  one  of  her  great-* 


IN   WHICH    I   WALK   OX    THIN    ICE  289 

est  charms,  and  I  knew  that  if  I  were  to  open  my  mind 
to  her  at  the  moment,  she  would  enter  into  my  troubles 
with  all  the  insight  of  her  resourceful  sympathy.  But 
I  kept  silence,  restrained  by  some  masculine  instinct 
that  prompted  me  to  shut  the  business  world  outside 
the  doors  of  home. 

^' Well,  I  must  go  down  town,  dear;  I  don't  see  much 
of  you  these  days,  do  I?^' 

^'Not  much,  but  I  know  you're  here  to  stay  and  that's 
a  good  deal  of  comfort." 

'^I'm.  glad  you've  got  the  baby.  He  keeps  you 
company." 

She  looked  up  at  me  with  the  puzzling  expression, 
half  humour,  half  resentment,  I  had  seen  frequently 
in  her  face  of  late.  If  she  stopped  to  question  whether 
I  really  imagined  that  a  child  of  three  months  was  all 
the  companionship  required  by  a  woman  of  her  years, 
she  let  no  sign  of  it  escape  the  smiling  serenity  of  her 
lips.  On  her  knees  little  Benjamin  lay  perfectly  quiet 
while  he  stared  straight  up  at  the  ceiling  with  his  round 
blue  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  an  animated  doll. 

*^Yes,  he  is  company,"  she  answered  gently;  and 
stooping  to  kiss  them  both,  I  ran  downstairs,  hurried 
into  my  overcoat,  and  went  out  into  the  street. 

As  I  closed  the  door  behind  me,  I  saw  the  General's 
buggy  turning  the  corner,  and  a  minute  later  he  drew 
up  under  the  young  maples  beside  the  pavement,  and 
made  room  for  me  under  the  grey  fur  rug  that  covered 
his  knees. 

^^I  don't  like  the  way  things  are  behaving  in  Wall 
Street,  Ben,"  he  said.  ^^Did  that  last  smash  cost  you 
anything?" 


290  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''About  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  General,  but 
I  hadn't  spoken  of  it/' 

^'I  hope  the  bank  hasn't  been  loaning  any  more 
money  to  the  Cumberland  and  Tidewater.  I  meant  to 
ask  you  about  that  several  days  ago." 

''The  question  comes  up  before  the  directors  this 
afternoon.  We'll  probably  refuse  to  advance  any 
further  loans,  but  they've  already  drawn  on  us  pretty 
heavily,  you  understand,  and  we  may  have  to  go  in 
deeper  to  save  what  we've  got." 

"Well,  it  looks  pretty  shaky,  that's  all  I've  got  to  say. 
If  Jenkins  doesn't  butt  in  and  reorganise  it,  it  will 
probably  go  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  before  the  year 
is  up.  Is  it  the  bank  or  your  private  investments 
you've  been  worrying  over?" 

"My  own  affairs  entirely.  You  see  I'd  dealt  pretty 
largely  through  Cross  and  Hankins,  and  I  don't  know 
exactly  what  their  failure  will  mean  to  me." 

"A  good  many  men  in  the  country  are  asking  them- 
selves that  question.  A  smash  like  that  isn't  over  in  a 
day  or  a  night.  But  I'm  afraid  you've  been  spending 
too  much  money,  Ben.     Is  your  wife  extravagant?" 

"No,  it's  my  own  fault.  I've  never  liked  her  to 
consider  the  value  of  money." 

"It's  a  bad  way  to  begin.  Women  have  got  it  in 
their  blood,  and  I  remember  my  poor  mother  used  to 
say  she  never  felt  that  a  dollar  was  worth  anything 
until  she  spent  it.  If  I  were  you,  I'd  pull  up  and  go 
slowly,  but  it's  mighty  hard  to  do  after  you've  once 
started  at  a  gallop." 

"I  don't  think  I'll  have  any  trouble,  but  I  hate  Hke 
the  deuce  to  speak  of  it  to  Sally." 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   OX    THIX   ICE  291 

"That^s  your  damned  delicacy.  It  puts  me  in  mind 
of  my  cousin,  Jenny  Tyler,  who  married  that  scamp 
who  used  to  throw  his  boots  at  her.  Once  when  she 
was  a  girl  she  stayed  with  us  for  a  summer,  and  old 
Judge  Lacy,  one  of  the  ugliest  men  of  his  day,  fell  over 
head  and  heels  in  love  with  her.  She  couldn't  endure 
the  sight  of  him,  and  yet,  if  you'll  believe  my  word, 
though  she  was  as  modest  as  an  angel,  I  actually  found 
him  kissing  her  one  day  in  a  summer-house.  'Bless 
my  soul,  Jenny!'  I  exclaimed,  ^why  didn't  you  tell 
that  old  baboon  to  stop  hugging  you  and  behave  him- 
self?' '0  Cousin  George,'  she  replied,  blushing  the 
colour  of  a  cherry,  'I  didn't  like  to  .mention  it.'  Now, 
that's  the  kind  of  false  modesty  you've  got,  Ben." 

''Well,  you  see,  General,"  I  responded  when  he  had 
finished  his  sly  chuckle,  "I've  always  felt  that  money 
was  the  only  thing  that  I  had  to  offer." 

"You  may  feel  that  way,  Ben,  but  I  don't  believe 
that  Sally  does.  My  honest  opinion  is  that  it  means  a 
lot  more  to  you  than  it  does  to  her.  There  never  was 
a  Bland  yet  that  didn't  look  upon  money  as  a  vulgar 
thing.  I've  known  Sally's  grandfather  to  refuse  to 
invite  a  man  to  his  house  when  the  only  objection  he 
had  to  him  was  that  he  was  too  rich  to  be  a  gentleman. 
If  you  think  it's  wealth  or  luxury  or  their  old  house 
that  the  Blands  pride  themselves  on,  you  haven't 
learned  a  thing  about  'em  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  you've 
married  into  the  family.  What  they're  proud  of  is 
that  they  can  do  without  any  of  these  things ;  they've 
got  something  else  —  whatever  it  is  —  that  they  con- 
sider a  long  sight  better.  Miss  Mitty  Bland  would 
still  have  it  if  she  went  in  rags  and  did  her  own  cook- 


292  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

ing,  and  it^s  this,  not  any  material  possessions,  that 
makes  her  so  terribly  important.  Look  here,  now, 
you  take  my  advice  and  go  home  and  tell  Sally  to  stop 
spending  money.  How's  that  boy  of  yours?  Is  he 
wanting  to  become  a  bank  president  already?'^ 

The  old  grey  horse,  rounding  the  corner  at  an  amble, 
came  suddenly  to  a  stop  as  he  recognised  the  half- 
grown  negro  urchin  waiting  upon  the  pavement.  As  if 
moved  by  a  mechanical  spring,  the  General's  expression 
changed  at  once  from  its  sly  and  jolly  good  nature  to  the 
look  of  capable  activity  which  marked  the  successful 
man  of  affairs.  The  twinkle  in  his  little  bloodshot  eyes 
narrowed  to  a  point  of  steel,  the  loose  lines  of  his 
mouth,  which  was  the  mouth  of  a  generous  Hbertine, 
grew  instantly  sober,  and  even  his  crimson  neck, 
sprawling  over  his  puffy,  magenta-coloured  tie,  stif- 
fened into  an  appearance  of  pompous  dignity. 

^^Look  sharp  about  the  Cumberland  and  Tidewater, 
Ben,"  he  remarked  as  he  turned  to  limp  painfully  into 
the  railroad  office.  Then  the  glass  doors  swung  together 
behind  him,  and  he  forgot  my  existence,  while  I  crossed 
the  street  in  a  rush  and  entered  the  Union  Bank,  which 
was  a  block  farther  down  on  the  opposite  side. 

On  the  way  home  that  afternoon,  I  told  myself 
with  determination  that  I  would  tell  Sally  frankly 
about  the  money  I  had  lost",  but  when  a  little  later 
she  slipped  her  hand  into  my  arm,  and  led  me  into  the 
nursery  to  show  me  a  trunk  filled  with  baby's  clothes 
that  had  come  down  from  New  York,  my  courage 
melted  to  air,  and  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  dispel 
the  pretty  excitement  with  which  she  laid  each  separate 
tiny  garment  upon  the  bed. 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   ON   THIN   ICE  293 

^'Oh,  of  course,  you  don^t  enjoy  them,  Ben,  as  I  do, 
but  isn't  that  little  embroidered  cloak  too  lovely  ?'' 

^^  Lovely,  dear,  only  I've  had  a  bad  day,  and  I'm 
tired/' 

'^Poor  boy,  I  know  you  are.  Here,  we'll  put  them 
away.  But  first  there's  something  really  dreadful  I've 
got  to  tell  you." 

^^ Dreadful,  Sally?" 

^^  Yes,  but  it  isn't  about  us.  Do  you  know,  I  honestly 
believe  that  Jessy  intends  to  marry  Mr.  Cottrel." 

''What?  That  old  rocking-horse?  Why,  he's  a 
Methusalah,  and  knock-kneed  into  the  bargain." 

''It  doesn't  matter.  Nothing  matters  to  her  except 
clothes.  I've  heard  of  women  who  sold  themselves  for 
clothes,  and  I  believe  she's  one  of  them." 

"Well,  we're  an  eccentric  family,"  I  said  wearily, 
"and  she's  the  worst." 

At  any  other  time  the  news  would  probably  have 
excited  my  indignation,  but  as  I  sat  there,  in  the 
wicker  rocking-chair,  by  the  nursery  fire,  I  was  too  ex- 
hausted to  resent  any  manifestation  of  the  family 
spirit.  The  last  week  had  been  a  terrible  strain,  and 
there  were  months  ahead  which  I  knew  would  de- 
mand the  exercise  of  every  particle  of  energy  that 
I  possessed.  In  the  afternoon  there  was  to  be  a  meet- 
ing of  the  directors  of  the  bank,  called  to  discuss  the 
advancing  of  further  loans  to  the  Cumberland  and 
Tidewater  Railroad,  and  at  eight  o'clock  I  had  prom- 
ised to  work  for  several  hours  with  Bradley,  my  secre- 
tary. To  go  slowly  now  was  impossible.  My  only  hope 
was  that  by  going  fast  enough  I  might  manage  to  save 
what  remained  of  the  situation. 


294  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

As  the  winter  passed  I  went  earlier  to  my  office  and 
came  up  later.  Failure  succeeded  failure  in  Wall 
Street,  and  the  whole  country  began  presently  to  send 
back  echoes  of  the  prolonged  crash.  The  Cumberland 
and  Tidewater  Railroad,  to  which  we  had  refused  a 
further  loan,  went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the 
Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  immediately  bought 
up  the  remnants  at  its  own  price.  The  General,  who 
had  been  jubilant  about  the  purchase,  relapsed  into 
melancholy  a  week  later  over  the  loss  of  ^^ a  good  third'' 
of  his  personal  income. 

^'I'm  an  old  fool  or  I'd  have  stopped  dabbling  in 
speculations  and  put  away  a  nest-egg  for  my  old  age," 
he  remarked,  wiping  his  empurpled  Hds  on  his  silk 
handkerchief.  '^No  man  over  fifty  ought  to  be  trusted 
to  gamble  in  stocks.  Thank  God,  I'm  the  one  to  suffer, 
however,  and  not  the  road.  If  there's  a  more  solid 
road  in  the  country,  Ben,  than  the  South  Midland, 
I've  got  to  hear  of  it.  It's  big,  but  it's  growing  — 
swallowing  up  everything  that  comes  in  its  way,  like 
a  regular  boa  constrictor.  Think  what  it  was  when  I 
came  into  it  immediately  after  the  war;  and  to-day  it's 
one  of  the  few  roads  that  is  steadily  increasing  its 
earnings  in  spite  of  this  blamed  panic." 

^^You  worked  regeneration,  General,  as  I've  often 
told  you." 

^'Well,  I'm  too  old  to  see  what  it's  coming  to.  I 
hope  a  good  man  will  step  into  my  place  after  I'm 
gone.  I'm  sometimes  sorry  you  didn't  stick  by  me, 
Ben." 

He  spoke  of  the  great  road  in  a  tone  of  regretful 
sentiment  which  I  had  never  found  in  his  allusions  to 


IN   WHICH   I   WALK   OX   THIN   ICE  295 

Ms  lost  Matoaca.  The  romance  of  his  life,  after  all, 
was  not  a  woman,  but  a  railroad,  and  his  happiest  mem- 
ory was,  I  believe,  not  the  Sunday  upon  which  he  had 
stood  beside  the  rose-lined  bonnet  of  his  betrothed  and 
sung  lustily  out  of  the  same  hymn-book,  but  the  day 
when  the  stock  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and 
Atlantic  had  sold  at  180  in  the  open  market. 

'^I'll  tell  you  what,  my  boy,"  he  remarked  with  a 
quiver  of  his  lower  lip,  which  hung  still  farther  away 
from  his  bloodless  gum,  "a  woman  may  go  back  on  you, 
and  the  better  the  woman  the  more  likely  she  is  to  do 
it,  —  but  a  road  won't,  —  no,  not  if  it  is  a  good  road/' 

^^Well,  I'm  not  getting  much  return  out  of  the  West 
Virginia  and  Wyanoke  just  now,"  I  replied.  '^It's  no 
fun  being  a  little  road  at  the  mercy  of  a  big  one  when 
the  big  one  is  a  boa  constrictor.  Even  if  you  get  a  fair 
division  of  the  rates,  you  don't  get  your  cars  when  you 
want  them." 

'^The  moral  of  that,"  returned  the  General,  with  a 
chuckle,  '4s,  to  quote  from  my  poor  old  mammy  again, 
'Don't  hatch  until  you're  ready  to  hatch  whole.'  " 

We  parted  with  a  laugh,  and  I  dismissed  the  affairs 
of  the  little  railroad  as  I  entered  my  office  at  the  bank, 
where  my  private  wire  immediately  ticked  off  the  news 
of  a  stat€  of  panic  in  the  money  market.  That  was 
in  February,  and  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  March 
that  the  ice  on  which  I  was  walking  cracked  under  my 
feet  and  I  went  through. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

IN  WHICH  I  GO   DOWN 

I  HAD  just  risen  from  breakfast  on  the  last  day  of 
March  when  I  was  called  to  the  telephone  by  Cummins, 
the  cashier  of  the  bank. 

^^  Things  are  going  pretty  queer  down  here.  Looks 
as  if  a  run  were  beginning.  Some  old  fool  started  it 
after  reading  about  that  failure  of  the  Darlington  Trust 
Company  in  New  York.     Wish  you'd  hurry." 

^^Call  up  the  directors,  and  look  here  !  —  pay  out  all 
deposits  slowly  until  I  get  there.'' 

The  telephone  rang  off,  and  picking  up  my  hat,  I 
went  down  the  front  steps  to  the  carriage,  which  had 
been  ordered  by  Sally  for  an  early  appointment.  As  I 
stepped  in,  she  appeared  in  her  hat  and  coat  and 
joined  me. 

^^ Drive  to  the  bank,  Micah,"  I  said,  '^I  want  to  get 
there  like  lightning." 

^^Can  you  wait  till  I  speak  to  mammy?  She  is 
bringing  the  baby." 

For  the  first  time  since  our  marriage  my  nerves  got 
the  better  of  me,  and  I  answered  her  sharply. 

^^No,  I  can't  wait  —  not  a  minute,  not  a  second. 
Drive  on,  Micah." 

In  obedience  to  my  commands,  Micah  touched  the 
horses,  and  as  we  sped  down  Franklin  Street,  Salb^ 

296 


m  WHICH   I   GO   DOWN  297 

looked  at  me  with  an  expression  which  reminded  me  of 
the  faint  wonder  under  the  fixed  smile  about  Miss 
Mitty's  mouth. 

'^What's  the  matter,  Ben?  Are  you  working  too 
hard?'^  she  enquired. 

^^I'm  tired  and  I'm  anxious.  Do  you  realise  that  we 
are  living  in  the  midst  of  a  panic  ?  " 

^^Are  we?''  she  asked  quietly,  and  arranged  the  fur 
rug  over  her  knees. 

^^Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  hadn't  heard  it?" 
I  demanded,  in  pure  amazement  that  the  thing  which 
had  possessed  me  to  madness  for  three  months  should 
have  escaped  the  consciousness  of  the  wife  with  whom 
I  lived. 

^^How  was  I  to  hear  of  it  ?  You  never  told  me,  and  I 
seldom  read  the  papers  now  since  the  baby  came. 
Of  course  I  knew  something  was  wrong.  You  were 
looking  so  badly  and  so  much  older." 

To  me  it  had  needed  no  telling,  because  it  had  become 
suddenly  the  most  ob^dous  fact  in  the  world  in  which 
I  moved.  Only  a  fool  would  gaze  up  at  the  sky  during  a 
storm  burst  and  remark  to  a  bystander,  ^'Tt  thunders." 
Yet  even  now  I  saw  that  what  she  realised  was  not  the 
gravity  of  the  financial  crisis,  but  its  injurious  effect 
upon  my  health  and  my  appearance. 

'^ You've  been  on  too  great  a  strain,"  she  remarked 
sympathetically;  ^^when  it's  all  over  you  must  come 
away  and  we'll  go  to  Florida  in  the  General's  car." 

To  Florida !  and  at  that  instant  I  was  struggUng 
in  the  grip  of  failure  —  the  failure  of  the  successful 
financier,  which  is  of  all  failures  the  hardest.  Not  a 
few  retrenchments,  not  the  economy  of  a  luxury  here 


298  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

and  there,  but  ultimate  poverty  was  the  thing  that  1 
faced  while  I  sat  beside  her  on  the  soft  cushions  under 
the  rich  fur  rug.  One  by  one  the  familiar  houses  whirled 
by  me.  I  saw  the  doors  open  and  shut,  the  people 
come  out  of  them,  the  sunshine  fall  through  the  bud- 
ding trees  on  the  sidewalk;  and  the  houses  and  the 
moving  people  and  the  budding  trees,  all  seemed  to  me 
detached  and  unreal,  as  if  they  stood  apart  somewhere 
in  a  world  of  quiet,  while  I  was  sucked  in  by  the  whirl- 
pool. Though  I  lifted  my  voice  and  called  aloud  to 
them,  I  felt  that  the  people  I  passed  w^ould  still  go 
quietly  in  and  out  of  the  opening  doors  in  the  placid 
spring  sunshine. 

'^There's  Bonny  Page,"  said  Sally,  waving  her  hand; 
''she's  to  marry  Ned  Marshall  next  month,  you  know, 
and  they  are  going  to  Europe.  Did  you  notice  that 
baby  in  the  carriage  —  the  one  wdth  blue  bows  and  the 
Irish  lace  afghan  ?  —  it  is  Bessy  Munford's,  —  the  hand- 
somest in  town,  they  say,  after  little  Benjamin.^' 

The  sight  of  the  baby  carriage,  with  its  useless  blue 
fripperies,  trundled  on  the  pavement  under  the  budding 
trees,  had  aroused  in  me  a  sudden  ridiculous  anger,  as 
though  it  represented  the  sinful  extravagance  of  an  entire 
nation.  That  silly  carriage  with  its  blue  ribbons  and  its 
lace  coverlet !  And  over  the  whole  country  factory  aft^r 
factory  was  shutting  down,  and  thousands  of  hungry 
mothers  and  children  were  sitting  on  door-steps  in  this 
same  sunshine.  My  nerves  were  bad.  It  had  been 
months  since  I  had  a  good  night's  sleep,  and  I  knew 
that  in  the  condition  of  my  temper  a  trifle  might  be 
magnified  out  of  all  due  proportion  to  its  relative 
significance. 


IN   WHICH   I   GO   DOWN  299 

The  horses  stopped  at  the  bank,  and  Sally  leaned  out 
to  bow  smilingly  to  one  of  the  directors,  who  was  com- 
ing along  the  sidewalk. 

^'I  never  saw  so  many  people  about  here,  Ben,"  she 
remarked;  '4t  looks  exactly  as  if  it  were  a  theatre. 
Ah,  there's  the  General  now  going  into  his  office.  He 
hobbles  so  badly,  doesn't  he?  When  do  you  think 
you'll  be  home?" 

^^I  don't  know,"  I  returned  shortly,  '' perhaps  at 
midnight  —  perhaps  next  week." 

My  tone  brought  a  flush  to  her  cheek,  and  she  looked 
at  me  with  the  faint  wonder  that  I  had  seen  first  on  the 
face  of  Miss  Mitty  when  I  went  in  to  breakfast  with  her 
on  that  autumn  morning.  It  was  the  look  of  race, 
of  the  Bland  breeding,  of  the  tradition  that  questioned, 
not  violently,  but  gently,  '^Can  this  be  possible?" 

She  drove  on  without  replying  to  me,  and  as  I  entered 
my  office,  the  faces  of  Miss  Mitty  and  of  Sally  were  con- 
fused into  one  by  my  disordered  mind. 

The  run  had  already  started  —  a  depositor,  who  had 
withdrawn  ten  thousand  dollars  after  reading  of  the 
failure  of  the  Darlington  Trust  Company,  had  been  paid 
off  first,  and  following  him  the  line  had  come,  crawling 
like  black  ants  on  the  pavement.  As  I  entered  the 
doors,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  face  of  each  man  or 
woman  in  the  throng  stood  out,  separate  and  distinct, 
as  though  an  electric  search-light  had  passed  over  it ;  and 
I  saw  one  and  all,  frightened,  satisfied,  or  merely  ludi- 
crous, with  a  vividness  of  perception  which  failed  me 
when  I  remembered  the  features  of  my  own  wife. 

'^We  can  pay  them  off  slowly  till  three  o'clock," 
said  Bingley,  the  vice-president,  whom  I  found,  with 


300  THE    ROMA]SXE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

five  or  six  of  the  directors,  already  in  my  office.  '^I've 
got  only  one  paying  teller's  window  open.  The 
trouble,  of  course,  began  with  the  small  accounts, 
of  which  we  carry  such  a  blamed  lot.  Mark  my 
words,  it  is  the  little  depositor  that  endangers  a 
bank." 

He  looked  nervous,  and  swallowed  hastily  while  he 
talked,  as  if  he  had  just  rushed  in  from  breakfast,  with 
his  last  mouthful  still  unchewed.  As  I  entered  and 
faced  the  men  sitting  in  different  attitudes,  but  all 
wearing  the  same  strained  and  helpless  expression,  a 
feeling  of  irritation  swept  over  me,  and  I  paused  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor,  with  my  hat  and  a  folded  newspaper 
in  my  hand. 

^'A  quarter  of  a  million  in  hard  cash  would  tide  us 
over,  I  believe, ''  pursued  Bingley,  swallowing  faster; 
'^but  the  question  is  how  in  thunder  are  we  to  lay  hands 
on  it  by  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  ? '' 

I  drew  out  my  watch,  and  with  the  simple,  mechanical 
action,  I  was  conscious  of  an  immediate  quickening 
of  the  blood,  a  clearing  of  the  brain.  A  certain  readi- 
ness for  decision,  a  power  of  dealing  with  an  emergency, 
of  handling  a  crisis,  a  response  of  pulse  and  brain  to  the 
call  for  action,  stood  me  service  now  as  in  every  difficult 
instant  of  my  career.  They  were  picked  business  men 
and  shrewd  financiers  before  me,  yet  I  was  aware  that  I 
dominated  them,  all  and  each,  by  some  quality  of 
force,  of  aggressiveness,  of  inflated  self-confidence. 
The  secret  of  my  success,  I  had  once  said  to  the  General, 
was  that  I  began  to  get  cool  when  I  saw  other  people 
getting  scared. 

^'It  is  now  a  quarter  of  te».  gentlemen,''   I   said, 


IN   WHICH    I   GO   DOVvN  301 

^^and  I  pledge  my  word  of  honour  that  I  will  have  a 
quarter  of  a  million  dollars  in  bank  by  ten  o'clock  to- 
morrow/' 

'^For  God's  sake,  Ben,  where  is  it  coming  from?" 
demanded  Judge  Kenton,  an  old  Confederate,  with 
the  solemn  face  I  had  sometimes  watched  him  assume  in 
church  during  the  singing  of  the  hymns.  As  1  looked 
at  him  the  humour  of  his  expression  struck  me,  •<nd  I 
broke  into  a  laugh. 

"1  beg  your  pardon,"  I  returned  the  next  minute, 
''but  I'll  get  it  —  somewhere  —  if  it's  in  the  city." 

One  of  the  men  —  I  forget  which,  though  I  remember 
quite  clearly  that  he  wore  a  red  necktie  —  got  up  from 
the  table  and  slapped  me  on  the  shoulder. 

''Go  ahead;  Ben,  and  get  it,"  he  said.  '^  ^Ye  take  your 
word." 

On  the  pavement  the  crowd  had  thickened,  and 
when  it  caught  sight  of  me,  a  confused  murmur  rose, 
and  I  was  surrounded  by  half-hysterical  women.  The 
trouble,  as  Bingley  had  said,  had  begun  with  the  small 
depositors ;  and  in  the  line  that  pressed  now  like  black 
ants  to  the  doors,  there  were  many  evidently  who  had 
entrusted  their  nest-eggs  to  us  for  safe-keeping.  I  was 
not  gentle  by  nature,  and  the  sight  of  a  woman's  tears 
always  aroused  in  me,  not  the  angel,  but  the  brute. 
For  five  years  I  had  been  married  to  a  descendant  of 
the  Blands  and  the  Fairfaxes,  and  yet,  as  I  stood 
there,  held  at  bay,  in  the  midst  of  those  sobbing  women, 
the  veneer  of  refinement  peeled  off  from  me,  and  the  raw 
strength  of  the  common  man  showed  on  the  surface,  and 
triumphed  again  as  it  had  triumphed  over  the  fright- 
ened directors  in  my  office. 


302  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^ What  are  you  whining  about?  "  I  said  with  a  laugh, 
'^your  money  is  all  there.     Go  in  and  get  it/^ 

An  old  woman  in  a  plaid  shawl,  with  her  mouth 
twisted  sideways  by  a  recent  stroke  of  paralysis,  barred 
my  way  with  an  outstretched  hand,  in  which  she  held 
the  foot  of  a  grey  yarn  stocking. 

^^I^d  laid  it  up  for  my  old  age.  Mister/'  she  mumbled 
through  her  toothless  gums,  ^^an'  they  told  me  it  was 
safer  in  the  bank,  so  I  put  it  there.     But  I  reckon  I'd 
feel  easier  if  I  had  it  back  —  I  reckon  I'd  feel  easier." 

'^Then  go  after  it,"  I  replied  harshly,  pushing  her  out 
of  my  way.  ^'If  you  don't  get  it  before  I  come  back, 
I'll  give  it  to  you  with  my  ow^n  hands." 

For  a  minute  my  presence  subdued  the  crowd;  but 
the  panic  terror  had  gripped  it,  and  while  I  crossed  the 
street  the  hysterical  murmurs  were  in  my  ears.  A 
desire  to  turn  and  throttle  the  sound  as  I  might  a 
howling  wild  beast  took  possession  of  me.  It  was  true, 
I  suppose,  as  Dr.  Theophilus  had  once  told  me,  that  the 
quality  I  lacked  was  tenderness. 

The  General  fortunately  was  alone  in  his  private 
office,  and  when  I  went  in  he  glanced  up  enquiringly 
from  a  railroad  report  he  was  reading. 

^^It's  you,  Ben,  is  it?"  he  remarked,  and  went  back 
to  his  paper. 

'^General,"  I  said  bluntly,  and  stopped  short  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  ^^I  v/ant  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  in  cash  by  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning." 

For  a  moment  he  sat  speechless,  blinking  at  me  with 
his  swollen  eyelids,  while  his  lower  lip  protruded  angrily, 
like  the  lip  of  a  crying  child.  Then  the  old  war-horse  in 
him  responded  gallantly  to  the  scent  of  battle. 


IN   WHICH   I   GO   DOWN  303 

'^Damn  you,  Ben,  do  you  know  cash  is  as  tight  as 
wax?"  he  enquired.  '^You  ain't  dozing  in  the  midst 
of  a  panic?  '^ 

'^There's  trouble  at  the  bank,"  I  rephed.  ^^  A  run  has 
started,  but  so  far  it  is  almost  entirely  among  the  small 
depositors.  We  can  manage  to  pay  off  till  three  o'clock, 
and  if  we  open  to-morrow  with  a  quarter  of  a  million, 
we  shall  probably  keep  on  our  feet,  unless  the  excite- 
ment spreads." 

''When  do  you  want  it?" 

''By  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning;  and  I  want  it, 
General,"  I  added,  "on  my  personal  credit." 

He  rose  from  his  chair  and  stood  swaying  unsteadily 
on  his  gouty  foot. 

"I'll  give  you  every  penny  that  I've  got,  Ben,"  he 
answered,  "but  it  ain't  that  much." 

"You  have  access  to  the  cash  of  both  the  Tilden 
Bank  and  the  Bonfield  Trust  Company.  If  there's  a 
dollar  in  the  city  you  can  get  it." 

A  hint  of  his  sly  humour  appeared  for  an  instant  in 
his  eyes.  "It  wasn't  any  longer  ago  than  breakfast 
that  I  remarked  I  didn't  believe  there  was  a  blamed 
dollar  in  the  whole  country,"  he  returned.  Then  his 
swaying  stopped  and  he  became  invested  suddenly 
with  the  dignity  of  the  greatest  financier  in  the  state. 

"Hand  me  my  stick,  Ben,  and  I'll  go  and  see  what  I 
can  do  about  it,"  he  said. 

I  gave  him  his  stick  and  my  arm,  and  with  my  assist- 
ance he  limped  to  the  offices  of  the  Bonfield  Trust 
Company  on  the  next  block.  When  I  returned  to  the 
bank  the  directors  were  talking  excitedly,  but  at  my 
entrance  a  hush  fell,  and  they  sat  looking  at  me  with  a 


304  THE   ROMAKCE    OF   A   PLAIX    MAN 

row  of  vacant,  expectant  faces  that  waited  apparently 
to  be  filled  T\ith  expression. 

'^By  ten  o'clock  to-morrow  morning/'  I  said,  ^^a 
quarter  of  a  million  in  cash  \\ill  be  brought  in  through 
the  door  in  bags." 

^^I  told  you  he'd  do  it,"  exclaimed  Bingley,  as  he 
grasped  my  hand,  ^^and  I  hope  to  God  it  will  stay  'e»^ 
off." 

^'You  need  a  drink,  Ben,"  observed  Judge  Kenton^ 
'^and  so  do  I.  Let's  go  and  get  it.  A  soft-boiled  egg 
was  all  I  had  for  breakfast,  and  I've  gone  faint." 

I  remember  that  I  went  to  a  restaurant  with  him,  tha* 
a  few  old  women  sitting  on  the  curbing  spoke  to  us  ar 
we  passed,  that  we  ate  oysters,  and  returned  in  half  an 
hour  to  another  meeting,  that  we  discussed  w^ays  and 
means  until  eight  o'clock  and  decided  nothing.  I 
know  also  that  when  we  came  out  again  several  of  the 
old  women  were  still  crouching  there,  and  that  when 
they  came  whining  up  to  me,  I  turned  on  them  with  an 
oath  and  ordered  them  to  be  off.  As  clearly  as  if  it 
were  yesterday,  I  can  see  still  the  long,  solemn  face  of 
the  Judge  as  he  glanced  up  at  me,  and  I  see  written 
upon  it  something  of  the  faint  wonder  that  I  had 
grown  to  regard  as  the  peculiar  look  of  the  Blands. 

I  had  telephoned  Sally  not  to  wait,  and  when  I 
reached  home  I  found  that  she  had  dismissed  the  ser- 
vants and  was  preparing  a  little  supper  for  me  herself. 
While  she  served  me,  I  sat  perfectly  silent,  too  ex- 
hausted to  talk  or  to  think,  trying  in  vain  to  remem- 
ber the  more  important  events  of  the  day.  Only  once 
did  Sally  speak,  and  that  was  to  beg  me  to  eat  the  slice 
of  cold  turkey  she  had  laid  on  my  plate. 


IK   WHICH   I   GO   DOWN  305 

'^I^m  not  hungry,  I  got  something  with  Judge 
Kenton  down  town/'  I  returned  as  I  pushed  back  my 
chair  and  rose  from  the  table;  ''what  I  need  is  sleep, 
sleep,  sleep.  If  I  don't  get  to  bed,  I'll  drop  to  sleep 
on  the  hearth-rug." 

^^Then  go,  dear,"  she  answered,  and  not  until  I 
reached  the  landing  above  did  I  realise  that  through 
it  all  she  had  not  put  a  single  question  to  me.  With  the 
realisation  I  knew  that  I  ought  to  have  told  her  what 
in  her  heart  she  must  have  felt  it  to  be  her  right  to 
know;  but  a  nervous  shrinking,  which  seemed  to  be 
a  result  of  my  complete  physical  exhaustion,  held  me 
back  when  I  started  to  retrace  my  steps. 

She  might  cry,  and  the  sight  of  tears  would  unman 
me.  There's  time  enough,  I  thought.  Why  not  to- 
morrow instead  ?  Yet  in  my  heart  I  knew  it  would  be 
no  easier  to  do  it  to-morrow  than  it  was  to-day.  By 
some  strange  freak  of  the  imagination  those  unshed 
tears  of  hers  seemed  already  dropping  upon  my  nerves. 
'^There's  time  enough,  she'll  be  obliged  to  hear  it  in 
the  end,"  something  within  me  repeated  with  a  kind  of 
dulness.  And  with  the  words,  while  my  head  touched 
the  pillow,  I  started  suddenly  wide  awake  as  though  from 
the  flash  of  a  lantern  that  was  turned  inward.  Trivial 
impressions  of  the  afternoon  stood  out  as  if  illuminated 
against  the  outer  darkness,  and  there  hovered  before 
me  the  face  of  the  old  woman,  in  the  plaid  shawl,  with 
her  twisted  mouth,  and  the  foot  of  her  grey  yarn  stock- 
ing held  out  in  her  palsied  hand.  '^I  reckon  I'd  feel 
easier  if  I  had  it  back,"  said  a  voice  somewhere  in  my 
brain. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

WE  FACE  THE  FACTS  AND  EACH  OTHER 

The  panic  which  had  begun  with  the  depositors  of 
small  accounts,  spread  next  day  to  the  holders  of 
larger  ones,  and  even  while  I  stood  at  my  window  and 
watched  the  cash  brought  in  in  bags  through  the 
cheering  crowd  on  the  sidewalk,  I  knew  that  the  quar- 
ter of  a  million  dollars  would  go  down  with  the  rest. 
My  financial  insight  had  misled  me,  and  the  bank  funds, 
which  I  had  believed  so  carefully  guarded,  had  suf- 
fered the  same  fate  as  my  private  fortune.  There  were 
more  serious  questions  behind  the  immediate  need  of 
currency,  and  these  questions  drummed  in  my  mind 
now,  dull  and  regular  as  the  beat  of  a  hammer. 

For  three  days  we  paid  off  our  accounts,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  when  I  left  the  building,  after  the  run 
had  stopped,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  city  had  a  de- 
serted and  trampled  look,  as  if  some  enormous  picnic 
had  been  held  in  the  streets.  A  few  loose  shreds  of 
paper,  a  banana  peel  here  and  there,  the  ends  of  numer- 
ous cigars,  and  the  white  patch  torn  from  a  woman^s 
petticoat  littered  the  pavement.  Over  all  there  was 
a  thick  coating  of  dust,  and  the  wind,  blowing  straight 
from  the  east,  whipped  swirls  of  it  into  our  faces,  as  the 
General  and  I  drove  slowly  up-town  in  his  buggy. 

^^You  look  down  in  the  mouth,  Ben,"  he  remarked, 
as  I  took  the  reins. 

306 


WE  FACE  THE  FACTS  AND  EACH  OTHER   307 

''I've  got  an  infernal  toothache,  General;  it  kept  me 
awake  all  night." 

''Well,  bless  my  soul,  you  ought  to  be  thankful 
if  it  takes  your  mind  off  the  country.  I  haven't 
seen  such  a  state  of  affairs  since  the  days  of  recon- 
struction. I  tell  you,  my  boy,  the  only  thing  on  earth 
to  do  is  to  take  a  julep.  Lithia  water  is  well  enough 
in  times  of  prosperity,  but  you  can't  support  a  panic 
on  it.  I've  gone  back  to  my  julep,  and  if  I  die  of  it, 
I'll  die  with  a  little  spirit  in  me." 

"There 're  worse  things  than  death  ahead  of  me, 
General,  there's  ruin." 

''It's  the  toothache,  Ben.  Don't  let  it  take  all  the 
spirit  out  of  you." 

"No,  it's  more  than  the  toothache,  confound  it!  — 
it  never  leaves  off.  The  truth  is,  I'm  in  the  tightest 
place  of  my  life,  and  to  keep  what  I  own  would  cost  me 
more  than  I've  got.  I  haven't  the  money  to  pay  up 
—  and  if  I  can't  buy  outright,  you  see  that  I  must  let 
go." 

"I've  done  what  I  could  for  you,  Ben,  and  if  there  is 
more  I  can  do,  heaven  knows  I'll  be  thankful  enough." 

"You've  already  done  too  much,  General,  but  I've 
made  sure  that  you  shan't  suffer  by  it.  I've  simply 
gone  down,  that's  all,  and  I've  got  to  stay  there  till  I 
can  get  on  my  feet.  The  bank  will  close  temporarily, 
I  suppose,  but  when  it  starts  again,  it  will  have  to 
start  with  another  man.  I  shall  look  out  for  a  smaller 
job." 

"If  you  come  back  to  the  road,  I'll  find  a  place  for 
you  —  but  it  won't  be  like  being  a  bank  president, 
you  know." 


308  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   FLAI^   MAN 

''Well,  when  the  time  comes,  I'll  let  you  know/'  1 
added,  when  the  buggy  stopped  before  my  door,  and 
I  handed  him  the  reins. 

'^ Listen  to  me,  my  boy,"  he  called  back,  as  he  drove 
off  and  I  went  up  the  brown  stone  steps,  ''and  take  a 
julep." 

But  the  support  I  needed  was  not  that  of  v/hiskey, 
and  though  I  swallowed  a  dozen  juleps,  the  thought  of 
Sally's  face  when  I  broke  the  news  would  suffer  no 
blessed  obscurity. 

"Shall  I  tell  her  now,  or  after  dinner?"  I  asked, 
while  I  drew  out  my  latch-key;  and  then  when  she 
met  me  at  the  head  of  the  staircase,  with  her  shining 
eyes,  I  grew  cowardly  again,  and  said,  ''Not  now  — 
not  now.     To-night  I  will  tell  her." 

At  night,  when  we  sat  opposite  to  each  other,  with  a 
silver  bowl  of  jonquils  between  us,  she  began  talking 
idly  about  the  marriage  of  Bonny  Page,  inspired,  I  felt, 
by  a  valiant  determination  to  save  the  situation  in  the 
eyes  of  the  servants  at  least.  The  small  yellow  candle 
shades,  made  to  resemble  flowers,  shone  like  suns  in  a 
mist  before  my  eyes ;  and  all  the  time  that  my  thoughts 
worked  over  the  approaching  hour,  I  heard,  like  a  muf- 
fled undertone,  the  soft,  regular  footfalls  of  old  Esdras, 
the  butler,  on  the  velvet  carpet. 

"I'll  tell  her  after  the  servants  have  gone,  and  the 
house  is  quiet  —  when  she  has  taken  off  her  dinner 
gown  —  when  she  may  turn  on  her  pillow  and  cry  it 
out.  I'll  say  simply,  'Sally,  I  am  ruined.  I  haven't 
a  penny  left  of  my  own.  Even  the  horses  and  the  car- 
riages and  the  furniture  are  not  mine  ! '  No,  that  is  a 
brutal  way.     It  will  be  better  to  put  it  like  this  — • 


WE   FACE   THE   FACTS   AND   EACH   OTHER       309 

''What    did    you   say,    dear?^'      I    asked,    speaking 
aloud. 

''Only  that  Bonny  Page  is  to  have  six  bridesmaids, 
but  the  wedding  will  be  quiet,  because  they  have  lost 

money/^ 

"TheyVe  lost  money  ?^^ 

"Everybody  has  lost  money  —  everybody,  the  Gen- 
eral says.  Ben,  do  you  know,''  she  added,  "IVe  never 
cared  truly  about  money  in  my  heart." 

In  some  vague  woman's  way  she  meant  it,  I  sup- 
pose, yet  as  I  looked  at  her,  w^here  she  sat  beyond  the 
bowl  of  jonquils,  in  one  of  her  old  Paris  gowns,  which 
she  had  told  me  she  was  wearing  out,  I  broke  into  a 
short,  mirthless  laugh.  She  held  her  head  high,  with 
its  wreath  of  plaits  that  made  a  charming  frame  for 
her  arched  black  eyebrows  and  her  full  red  mouth. 
On  her  bare  throat,  round  and  white  as  a  marble  col- 
umn, there  was  an  old-fashioned  necklace  of  wrought 
gold,  which  had  belonged  to  some  ancestress,  who 
was  doubtless  the  belle  and  beauty  of  her  generation. 
Was  it  possible  to  picture  her  in  a  common  gown,  with 
her  sleeves  rolled  up  and  the  perplexed  and  anxious 
look  that  poverty  brings  in  her  eyes  ?  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life  I  was  afraid  to  face  the  moment  before  me. 

The  roast  was  removed,  the  dessert  served,  and 
played  with  in  silence.  The  footfalls  of  old  Esdras,  the 
butler,  sounded  softer  on  the  carpet,  as  he  carried  away 
the  untasted  pudding  and  brought  coffee  and  an  apri- 
cot brandy,  which  he  placed  before  me  with  a  per- 
suasive air.  I  lit  a  cigar  at  the  flame  of  the  little  silver 
lamp  he  offered  me,  drank  my  coffee  hurriedly,  and 
rose  from  the  table. 


310  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

"Are  you  going  to  work,  Ben?'^  asked  Sally,  follow- 
ing me  to  the  door  of  the  library. 

^^Yes,  I  am  going  to  work/' 

Without  a  word  she  raised  her  lips  to  mine,  and  when 
I  had  kissed  her,  she  turned  slowly  away,  and  went  up 
the  staircase,  with  the  branching  lights  in  the  hall 
shining  upon  her  head. 

I  closed  the  door,  lowered  the  wick  of  the  oil  lamp 
on  my  desk,  and  began  walking  up  and  down  the  length 
of  the  room,  between  the  black  oak  bookcases  filled 
with  rows  of  calf-bound  volumes.  I  tried  to  think,  but 
between  my  thoughts  and  myself  there  obtruded  al- 
ways, like  some  small,  malignant  devil,  the  face  of  the 
old  woman  on  the  pavement  before  the  bank,  wdth  her 
distorted  and  twisted  mouth.  ^^This  will  have  to  go 
—  everything  will  have  to  go  —  when  I've  sold  every 
last  stick  I  have  in  the  world,  I  shall  still  owe  a  debt 
of  some  cool  hundreds  of  thousands.  I'll  pay  that, 
too,  some  day.  Of  course,  of  course,  but  when? 
Meanwhile,  we've  got  to  live  somewhere,  somehow. 
There's  the  child,  too  —  and  there's  Sally.  I  always 
said  I'd  only  money  to  give  her,  and  now  I  haven't 
that.  We'll  have  to  go  into  some  cheap  place,  and 
I'll  begin  over  again,  with,  the  disadvantages  of  a  failure 
behind  me,  and  a  burden  of  debt  on  my  shoulders. 
She's  got  to  know  —  I've  got  to  tell  her.  Confound 
that  old  woman !  Why  can't  I  keep  her  out  of  my 
thoughts?" 

The  hours  went  by,  and  still  I  walked  up  and  down 
between  the  black  oak  bookcases,  driven  by  some  de- 
mon of  torture  to  follow  the  same  line  in  the  Turkish 
rug,  to  turn  always  at  the  same  point,  to  measure 
always  the  same  number  of  steps. 


WE  FACE  THE  FACTS  AND  EACH  OTHER   311 

''Well,  she  got  her  money  —  they  all  got  their 
money/'  I  said  at  last.  ^'I  am  the  only  one  who  is 
ruined  —  no,  not  the  only  one  —  there  is  Sally  and 
there  is  the  child.  I'd  feel  easier,"  I  added,  echoing 
the  words  of  the  old  woman  aloud,  ''I'd  feel  easier  if  I 
were  the  only  one.'' 

A  clock  somewhere  in  the  city  struck  the  hour  of 
midnight,  and  while  the  sound  was  still  in  the  air,  the 
door  opened  softly  and  Sally  came  into  the  room.  She 
had  slipped  on  a  wrapper  over  her  nightdress,  and  her 
hair,  flattened  and  warmed  by  the  pillow,  hung  in  a 
single  braid  over  her  bosom.  There  were  deep  circles 
under  her  eyes,  which  shone  the  more  brilliantly  because 
of  the  heavy  shadows. 

''What  is  the  matter,  Ben?  Why  don't  you  come 
upstairs?" 

"I  couldn't  sleep  —  I  am  thinking,"  I  answered, 
almost  roughly,  oppressed  by  my  weight  of  misery. 

' '  Would  you  rather  be  alone  ?    Shall  I  go  away  again  ?  " 

"Yes,  I'd  rather  be  alone." 

She  went  silently  to  the  door,  stood  there  a  minute, 
and  then  ran  back  with  her  arms  outstretched. 

"Oh,  Ben,  Ben,  why  are  you  so  hard?  Why  are 
you  so  cruel?" 

"Cruel?     Hard?     To  you,  Sally?" 

"You  treat  me  as  if  —  as  if  I'd  married  you  for  your 
money  and  you've  made  me  hate  and  despise  it.  I  wish 
• —  I  almost  wish,  we  hadn't  a  penny." 

I  laughed  the  bitter,  mirthless  laugh  that  had  broken 
from  me  at  dinner. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact  we  haven't  —  not  a  single  penny 
that  we  can  honestly  call  our  own." 


312  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAK 

She  drew  back  instantly,  her  head  held  high  under 
the  branching  electric  jet  in  the  ceiling. 

''Well,  I'm  glad  of  it/'  she  responded  defiantly. 

''You  don't  in  the  least  understand  what  it  means, 
Sally.  It  isn't  merely  giving  up  a  few  luxuries,  it  is 
actually  going  without  the  necessities.  It  is  practically 
beginning  again." 

"I  am  glad  of  it,"  she  repeated,  and  there  was  no 
regret  in  her  voice. 

"Oh,  can't  you  understand?" 

"Tell  me  and  I  will  try." 

"I've  lost  everything.     I'm  ruined." 

"There  is  nothing  left?" 

"There  is  honour,"  I  said  bitterly,  ''a  couple  of 
hundred  thousand  dollars  of  debt,  and  a  little  West 
Virginia  railroad  too  poor  to  go  bankrupt." 

"Then  we  must  start  from  the  very  bottom?" 

"From  the  very  bottom.  Nothing  that  you  are 
likely  to  imagine  can  be  worse  than  the  facts  —  and 
I've  brought  you  to  it." 

Something  that  was  like  a  sob  burst  from  me,  and 
turning  away,  I  flung  myself  into  the  chair  on  the 
hearth-rug. 

"Can't  you  think  of  anything  that  would  be  worse ?  " 
she  asked  quietly. 

I  shook  my  head,  "The  worst  thing  about  it  is  that 
I've  brought  you  to  it." 

"Wouldn't  it  be  worse,"  she  went  on  in  the  same 
level  voice,  "if  you  had  lost  me?" 

"Lost  you !"  I  cried,  and  my  arms  were  open  at  the 
thought. 

"I'm  glad;  I'm  glad."     With  the  words  she  was  oh 


WE    FACE    THE   FACTS   AXD    EACH    OTHER       313 

her  knees  at  my  side,  and  her  mouth  touched  my 
cheek.  ^^I  knew  it  wasn't  the  worst,  Ben^  —  I  knew 
you'd  rather  give  up  the  money  than  give  up  me.  Ah, 
can't  you  see  —  can't  you  see,  that  the  worst  can't 
come  to  us  while  we  are  still  together?" 

Leaning  over  her,  I  gathered  her  to  me  with  a  hunger 
for  comfort,  kissing  her  eyes,  her  mouth,  her  throat, 
and  the  loosened  braid  on  her  bosom. 

'^Oh,  you  witch,  you've  almost  made  me  happy!"  I 
said. 

^^I  am  happy,  Ben." 

'^Happy  ?  The  horses  must  go,  and  the  carriage  and 
the  furniture  even.  We'll  have  to  move  into  some 
cheap  place.  I'll  get  a  position  of  some  kind  with  the 
railroad,  and  then  we'll  have  to  scrimp  and  save  for 
an  eternity,  until  we  pay  off  this  damned  burden  of 
debt." 

She  laughed  softly,  her  mouth  at  my  ear.  '^I'm 
happy,  Ben." 

^^We  shan't  be  able  to  keep  servants.  You'll  have 
to  wear  old  clothes,  and  I'll  go  so  shabby  that  you'U 
be  ashamed  of  me.  We'll  forget  what  a  bottle  of 
wine  looks  like,  and  if  we  were  ever  to  see  a  decent 
dinner,  we  shouldn't  recognise  it." 

Again  she  laughed,  ^^I'm  still  happy,  Ben." 

^^ We'll  live  in  some  God-forsaken,  out-of-the-way 
little  hole,  and  never  even  dare  ask  a  person  in  to  a 
meal  for  fear  there  wouldn't  be  enough  potatoes  to  go 
around.  It  will  be  a  daily  uphill  grind  until  I've  man- 
aged to  pay  off  honestly  every  cent  I  owe." 

Her  arms  tightened  about  my  neck,  ^^Oh,  Ben,  I'm 
so  happy." 


3U  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^Then  you  are  a  perfectly  abandoned  creature/'  I 
returned,  lifting  her  from  the  rug  until  she  nestled 
against  my  heart.  ^^I've  given  up  trying  to  make  you 
as  miserable  as  a  self-respecting  female  ought  to  be. 
If  you  won't  be  proper  and  wretched,  I  can't  help  it; 
for  I've  done  my  best.  And  the  most  ridiculous  part 
of  it  is,  darling,  that  I  actually  believe  I'm  happy,  too  I" 

She  laughed  like  a  child  between  her  kisses.  ^'Then, 
you  see,  it  isn't  really  the  thing,  but  the  way  you  take 
it  that  matters." 

"I'm  not  sure  about  the  logic  of  that — but  I'm  in- 
clined to  think  just  now  that  the  only  thing  I've  ever 
taken  is  you." 

^^If  you'll  try  to  remember  that,  you'll  be  always 
happy." 

^'But  I  must  remember  also  that  I've  brought  you 
to  poverty  —  I,  who  had  only  money  to  give  you." 

^'Do  you  dare  to  tell  me  to  my  face  that  I  married 
you  for  money?" 

^^You  couldn't  very  well  have  married  me  without 
it." 

^^I  don't  know  about  the  S^ery  well,'  but  I  know 
that  I'd  have  done  it." 

^^Do  you  think  that,  Sally?" 

Turning  in  my  arms,  she  lifted  her  head,  and  looked 
steadily  into  my  face. 

^^Have  I  ever  lied  to  you  since  we  were  married, 
Ben?" 

^^No,  darling." 

^^Have  I  ever  deceived  you?" 

^^Never,  I  am  sure,"  I  responded  with  a  desperate 
levity,  ^^ except  for  my  good." 


WE   FACE    THE   FACTS    AND    EACH    OTHER       315 

'^Have  I  ever  deceived  you/^  she  demanded  sternly, 
*^even  for  your  good?'' 

^^To  tell  the  truth,  I  don't  believe  you  ever  have/' 

The  warm  pressure  of  her  body  was  withdrawn,  and 
rising  to  her  feet,  she  stood  before  me  under  the  blaz- 
ing light. 

^'Then  I'm  not  lying  to  you  when  I  say  that  I'd  have 
married  you  if  you  hadn't  possessed  a  penny  to  your 
name  —  I'd  have  married  you  if  —  if  I'd  had  to  take 
in  washing." 

''Sally!"  I  cried,  and  made  a  movement  to  re- 
capture her ;  but  pushing  rae  back,  she  stood  straight 
and  tall,  with  the  fingers  of  her  outstretched  hand 
touching  my  breast. 

''No,  listen  to  me,  listen  to  me,"  she  said  gravely. 
"As  long  as  I  have  you  and  you  love  me,  Ben,  noth- 
ing can  break  my  spirit,  because  the  thing  that  makes 
life  of  value  to  me  will  still  be  mine.  If  you  ever  ceased 
to  love  me,  I  might  get  desperate,  and  do  something 
w^ild  and  foolish  —  even  run  off  with  another  man,  I 
believe  —  I  don't  know,  but  I  am  my  father's  daughter, 
as  well  as  my  mother's.  Until  that  time  comes,  I  can 
bear  anything,  and  bear  it  with  courage  —  with  gaiety 
even.  I  can  imagine  myself  without  everything  else, 
but  not  without  you.  I  love  my  child  —  you  know  I 
love  my  child  —  but  even  my  child  isn't  you.  If  I 
had  to  choose  to-night  between  my  baby  and  you,  I'd 
give  him  up,  —  and  cling  the  closer  to  you.  You  are 
myself,  and  if  I  had  to  choose  between  everything  else 
I've  ever  known  in  my  life  and  you,  I'd  let  everything 
else  go  and  follow  you  anywhere  —  anywhere.  There 
is  nothing  that  you  can  endure  that  I  cannot  ,share  with 


316  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

you.  I  can  bear  poverty,  I  could  even  have  borne 
shame.  If  we  had  to  go  to  some  strange  country  far 
away  from  all  I  have  ever  known,  I  could  go  and  go 
cheerfully.  I  can  work  beside  you,  I  can  work  for  you 
—  oh,  my  dear,  my  dearest,  I  am  your  wife,  do  you 
still  doubt  me?'' 

I  had  fallen  on  my  knees  before  her,  with  her  open 
palms  pressed  to  my  forehead,  in  which  my  very  brain 
seemed  throbbing.  As  I  looked  up  at  her,  she  stooped 
and  gathered  me  to  her  bosom. 

^'Do  you  know  me  now?'^  she  asked  in  a  whisper. 

Then  her  voice  broke,  and  the  next  instant  she 
would  have  sunk  down  beside  me,  if  I  had  not  sprung 
to  my  feet  and  lifted  her  in  my  arms.  While  I  held 
her  thus,  pressed  close  against  me,  something  of  her 
radiant  strength  entered  into  me,  and  I  was  aware  of 
a  power  in  myself  that  was  neither  hers  nor  mine,  bu«i 
the  welding  of  the  finer  qualities  in  both  our  natures 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  RED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE 

Sally  was  not  beside  me  when  I  awoke  in  the  morn- 
ing, nor  was  she  sipping  her  coffee  by  the  window,  as 
I  had  sometimes  found  her  doing  when  I  slept  late. 
Going  downstairs  an  hour  afterwards,  I  discovered  her, 
for  the  first  time  since  our  marriage,  awaiting  me  in 
the  dining-room.  In  her  dainty  breakfast  jacket  of 
blue  silk,  with  a  bit  of  lace  and  ribbon  framing  her 
T\Teath  of  plaits,  she  appeared  to  my  tired  eyes  as  the 
em.bodied  freshness  and  buoyancy  of  the  morning. 
Would  her  sparkling  gaiety  endure,  I  wondered, 
through  the  monotonous  days  ahead,  when  poverty 
became,  not  a  child's  play,  not  a  game  tricked  out  by 
the  imagination,  but  the  sordid  actuality  of  hard  work 
and  hourly  self-denial  ? 

^^I  am  practising  early  rising,  Ben,''  she  said,  ^'and 
it's  astonishing  what  an  appetite  it  gives  one.  I've 
made  the  coffee  myself,  and  Aunt  Mehitable  has  just 
taught  me  how  to  make  yeast.  One  can  never  tell  what 
may  come  useful,  you  know,  and  if  we  go  to  live  some- 
where in  a  jungle,  which  I'm  quite  prepared  to  do, 
you'd  be  glad  to  know  that  I  could  make  yeast,  wouldn't 
you?" 

^^I  suppose  so,  sweetheart,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact," 
I  added  presently,  ^^this  is  the  best  cup  of  coffee  I've 
had  for  many  a  month." 

Laughing  merrily,  she  perched  herself  on  the  arm 

317 


318  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

of  my  chair,  and  sipped  out  of  the  cup  I  held  toward 
her.  '^Of  course  it  is.  So  youVe  gained  that  much 
by  losing  everything.  It^s  very  strange,  Ben,  and  you 
may  consider  it  presumptuous,  but  IVe  a  profound 
conviction  somewhere  in  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that 
I  can  do  everything  better  than  anybody  else,  if  I  once 
turn  my  hand  to  it.  At  this  minute  I  haven^t  a  doubt 
that  my  yeast  is  better  than  Aunt  Mehitable's.  I'm 
going  to  cook  dinner,  too,  and  she'll  be  positively  jeal- 
ous of  my  performance.  How  do  we  know  w^hether  or 
not  we'll  meet  any  cooks  in  the  jungle  ?  And  if  we  do, 
they'll  probably  be  tigers — " 

^^Oh,  Sally,  Sally  !  You  think  it  play  now,  but  what 
will  you  feel  when  you  know  it's  earnest?" 

^^Of  course  it's  earnest.  Do  you  imagine  I'd  get  out 
of  my  bed  at  seven  o'clock  and  cut  up  a  slimy  potato 
if  it  wasn't  earnest?  That  may  be  your  idea  of  play, 
but  it's  not  mine." 

^^And  you  expect  to  flutter  about  a  stove  in  a  pale 
blue  breakfast  jacket  and  a  lace  cap?" 

'^Just  as  long  as  they  last.  When  they  go,  I  sup- 
pose I'll  have  to  take  to  calico,  but  it  wdll  be  pretty 
calico,  and  pink.  Pink  calico  don't  cost  a  penny  more 
than  drab  —  and  there's  one  thing  I  positively  decline 
to  do,  even  in  a  jungle,  and  that  is  look  ugly." 

^^You  couldn't  if  you  tried,  my  beauty." 

^^Oh,  yes,  I  could  —  I  could  look  hideous  —  aay 
woman  could  if  she  tried.  But  as  long  as  it  doesn't 
cost  any  more,  you've  no  objection  to  my  cooking  in 
pink  instead  of  drab,  I  suppose?" 

^^I've  an  objection  to  your  cooking  in  anything. 
Another  cup  of  coffee,  please." 


THE  RED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE       319 

"Ben." 

"  Yes,  dear." 

"You  never  drank  but  one  of  Aunt  Mehitable's." 

^^I'm  aware  of  it,  and  I'm  aware  of  something  else. 
It's  worth  being  poor,  Sally,  to  be  poor  with  you." 

''Then  give  me  another  taste  of  your  coffee.  But 
you  don't  call  this  being  poor,  do  you,  you  silly 
boy  ?  —  with  all  this  beautiful  mahogany  that  I  can 
use  for  a  mirror?  This  isn't  any  fun  in  the  w^orld. 
Just  wait  until  I  spread  the  cloth  over  a  pine  table. 
Then  we'U  have  something  to  laugh  at  sure  enough, 
Ben." 

^^\nd  I  thought  you'd  cry !" 

^' You  thought  a  great  many  very  foolish  things,  my 
dear.  You  even  thought  I'd  married  you  because  I 
wanted  to  be  rich,  and  it  seemed  an  easy  way.'^ 

'^Only  it  turned  out  to  be  an  easier  way  of  getting 
poor." 

^'Well,  rich  or  poor,  what  I  married  you  for,  after  all, 
was  the  essential  thing." 

^'And  you've  got  it,  sweetheart?" 

^^Of  course  I've  got  it.  If  I  didn't  have  it,  do  you 
think  I'd  be  able  to  laugh  at  a  pine  table?" 

^^If  I  were  only  sure  you  realised  it !" 

''You'll  be  sure  enough  when  we  are  in  the  midst 
of  it,  and  we'll  be  in  the  midst  of  it,  I  don't  doubt,  in  a 
little  while.  I've  been  thinking  pretty  hard  since  last 
night,  and  this  is  what  I  worked  out  while  I  was  mak- 
ing yeast." 

''Let's  have  it,  then." 

"Now,  the  first  thing  we've  got  to  do  is  to  get  out  of 
debt,  isn't  it?" 


320  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^The  very  first  thing,  if  it  can  be  managed/^ 
^' We'll  manage  it  this  way.     The  furniture  and  the 
silver  and  my  jewels  must  all  be  sold,  of  course ;  that's 
easy.     But  even  after  we've  done  that,  there'll  still  be 
a  great  big  burden  to  carry,  I  suppose?" 
^^ Pretty  big,  I'm  afraid,  for  your  shoulders." 
'^Oh,  we'll  pay  it  every  bit  in  the  end.     We  won't 
go  bankrupt.     You'll  go  back  to  the  railroad  on  a 
salary,  and  we'll  begin  to  pinch  on  the  spot." 
^^Yes,  but  times  are  hard  and  salaries  are  low." 
^^  Anyway  they're  salaries,  there's  that  much  to  be 
said  for  them.     And  while  we're  pinching  as  hard  as 
we  can  pinch,  we'll  move  over  to  Church  Hill  and  rent 
two  or  three  rooms  in  the  old  house  with  the  enchanted 
garden.     All  the  servants  will  have  to  go  except  Aunt 
Euphronasia,   who  couldn't  go  very  far,  poor  thing, 
because  she's  rheumatic  and  can't  stand  on  her  feet. 
She  can  sit  still  very  well,  however,  and  rock  the  baby, 
and  I'll  look  after  the  rooms  and  get  the  meals  —  I'm 
glad  they'll  be  simple  ones  —  and  we'll  put  by  every 
penny  that  we  can  save." 

^^The  mere  interest  on  the  debt  will  take  almost  as 
much  as  we  can  save.  There'll  be  some  arrangement 
made,  of  course,  and  the  payments  will  be  easy,  but 
there's  one  thing  I'm  determined  on,  and  that  is  that 
I'll  pay  it,  every  cent,  if  I  live.  Then,  too,  there's 
chance,  you  know.  Something  may  turn  up  —  some- 
thing almost  always  turns  up  to  a  man  like  my- 
self." 

^^Well,  if  it  turns  up,  we'll  welcome  it  with  open 
arms.  But  in  the  meantime  we'll  see  if  we  can't  scrape 
along  without  it.     I'm  going  over  this  morning  to  look 


THE    RED    FLAG   AT    THE   GATE  321 

for  rooms.  How  soon,  Ben,  do  you  suppose  they  will 
evict  us?'' 

^'Does  there  exist  a  woman/'  I  demanded  sternly, 
''who  can  be  humorous  over  her  own  eviction?" 

''It's  better  to  be  humorous  over  one's  own  than  over 
one's  neighbour's,  isn't  it?  And  besides,  a  laugh  may 
help  things,  but  tears  never  do.  I  was  born  laughing, 
mamma  always  said." 

"Then  laugh  on,  sweetheart." 

I  had  risen  from  the  table,  and  was  moving  toward 
the  door,  when  she  caught  my  arm. 

"There's  only  one  thing  I'll  never,  never  consent  to," 
she  said,  "you  remember  Dolly  ?'^ 

"Your  old  mare?" 

"I've  pensioned  her,  you  know,  and  I'll  pay  that 
pension  as  long  as  she  lives  if  we  both  have  to  starve." 

"You  shall  do  it  if  we're  hanged  and  drawn  for  it  — 
and  now,  Sally,  I  must  be  off  to  my  troubles  !" 

"Then,  good-by  and  be  brave.  Oh,  Ben,  my  dear- 
est, what  is  the  matter?" 

"It's  my  head.  I've  been  worrying  too  much,  and 
it's  gone  back  on  me  like  that  twice  in  the  last  fewdays." 

I  went  out  hurriedly,  convinced  that  even  failure 
wasn't  quite  so  bad  as  it  had  appeared  from  a  distance ; 
and  Sally,  following  me  to  the  door,  stood  smiling  after 
me  as  I  went  down  the  block  toward  the  car  line. 
Looking  back  at  the  corner,  I  saw  that  she  was  still 
standing  on  the  threshold,  with  the  sun  in  her  eyes  and 
her  head  held  high  under  the  ruffle  of  lace  and  ribbon 
that  framed  her  hair. 

The  street  was  filled  with  people  that  morning,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  first    block  Bonny  Page  nodded  to 


322  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

me  jauntily,  as  she  passed  on  her  early  ride  with  Ned 
Marshall.  Turning,  almost  unconsciously,  my  eyes 
followed  her  graceful,  very  erect  figure,  in  its  close  black 
habit,  swa}dng  so  perfectly  with  the  motion  of  her 
chestnut  mare.  An  immeasurable,  wind-blown  space 
seemed  to  stretch  between  us,  and  the  very  sound  of 
the  horse's  hoofs  on  the  cobblestones  in  the  street 
came  to  me,  faint  and  thin,  as  if  it  had  floated  back 
from  some  remote  past  which  I  but  dimly  remembered. 
I  had  never  felt,  even  when  standing  at  Bonny's  side, 
that  I  was  within  speaking  distance  of  her,  and  to-day, 
while  I  looked  after  the  vanishing  horses,  I  knew  that 
odd,  baffling  sensation  of  struggling  to  break  through 
an  inflexible,  yet  invisible  barrier.  Why  was  it  that 
I  who  had  won  Sally  should  still  remain  so  hopelessly 
divided  from  all  that  to  which  Sally  by  right  and  by 
nature  belonged? 

Farther  down  the  two  great  sycamores,  still  gaunt 
and  bare  as  skeletons,  stood  out  against  a  sky  of  in- 
tense blueness ;  and  on  the  crooked  pavement  beneath, 
the  shadows,  fine  and  delicate  as  lace-work,  rippled 
gently  in  the  wind  that  blew  straight  in  from  the  river. 
Looking  up  from  under  the  silvery  boughs,  I  saw  the 
wire  cage  of  the  canary  between  the  parted  curtains, 
and  beyond  it  the  pale  oval  face  of  Miss  Mitty,  with  its 
grave,  set  smile,  so  like  the  smile  of  the  painted  Blands 
and  Fairfaxes  that  hung,  in  massive  frames,  on  the 
drawing-room  walls.  In  the  midst  of  my  own  ruin 
an  impulse  of  compassion  entered  my  heart.  The 
vacancy  of  the  old  grey  house  was  like  the  vacancy  of 
a  tomb  in  which  the  ashes  have  scattered,  and  the 
one  living  spirit  seemed  that  of  the  canary  singing  joy- 


THE  BED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE       323 

ously  in  his  wire  cage.  Something  in  the  song  brought 
Sally  to  my  mind  as  she  had  appeared  that  morning  at 
breakfast,  and  I  felt  again  the  soft,  comforting  touch  of 
the  hand  she  had  laid  on  my  face.  Then  I  turned  my 
eyes  to  the  street,  and  saw  George  Bolingbroke  coming 
slowly  toward  me,  beyond  the  last  great  sycamore, 
which  grew  midwa}^  of  the  bricks.  At  the  sight  of  him 
all  that  had  comforted  or  supported  me  crumbled  and 
fell.  In  its  place  came  that  sharp  physical  soreness  — 
like  the  soreness  from  violent  action  —  that  the  shock 
of  my  failure  had  brought.  I,  who  had  meant  so  pas- 
sionately to  T\in  in  the  race,  was  suddenly  crippled. 
Money,  I  had  said,  was  all  that  I  had  to  give,  and  yet 
I  was  beggared  now  even  of  that.  Shorn  of  my  power, 
what  remained  to  me  that  would  make  me  his 
match  ? 

He  came  up,  taking  his  cigar  from  his  mouth  as  he 
stopped,  and  flicking  the  ashes  away,  Avhile  he  stood 
looking  at  me  with  an  expression  of  S3'mpathy  which 
he  struggled  in  vain,  I  saw,  to  dissemble.  On  his 
finely  coloured,  though  rather  impassive  features, 
there  was  the  same  darkening  of  a  carefully  suppressed 
emotion  —  the  same  lines  of  anger  drawn,  not  b}'  tem'* 
per,  but  by  suffering  —  that  I  had  seen  first  at  the  club 
when  his  favourite  hunter  had  died,  and  next  on  the  daj 
when  the  General  had  spoken  to  him,  in  my  presence, 
of  my  engagement  to  Sally.  Under  his  short  dark 
mustache,  his  thin,  nervous  lips  were  set  closely  to' 
get  her. 

'^I'm  awfully  cut  up,  Ben,'^  he  said,  ^^I  declare  I 
don't  know  when  I  was  ever  so  cut  up  about  anything 
before." 


324  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^I'm  cut  up  too,  George,  like  the  deuce,  but  it 
doesn^t  appear  to  help  matters,  somehow.'' 

^^  That's  the  worst  thing  about  being  a  man  of  affairs 
like  you  —  or  like  Uncle  George,"  he  observed,  making 
an  amiable  effort  to  assure  me  that  even  in  the  hour  of 
adversity,  I  still  held  my  coveted  place  in  the  General's 
class  ;  ^Svhen  the  crash  comes,  you  big  ones  have  to  pay 
the  piper,  while  the  rest  of  us  small  fry  manage  to  go 
scot-free." 

It  was  put  laboriously,  but  beneath  the  words  I 
felt  the  force  of  that  painful  sympathy,  too  strong  for 
concealment,  and  yet  not  strong  enough  to  break 
through  the  inherited  habit  of  self-command.  The 
General  had  broken  through,  I  acknowledged,  but  then 
was  not  the  very  greatness  of  the  great  man  the  expres- 
sion of  an  erratic  departure  from  traditions  rather  than 
of  the  perfect  adherence  to  the  racial  type? 

^^And  the  louder  the  music  the  bigger  the  cost  of  the 
piper,"  I  observed,  T^-ith  a  laugh. 

^^Oh,  you'll  come  out  all  right,"  he  rejoined  cheer- 
fully, 'things  are  never  so  bad  as  they  might  be." 

'^Well,  I  don't  know  that  there's  much  comfort  in 
reflecting  that  a  thunder-storm  might  have  been  ac- 
companied by   an  earthquake." 

For  a  moment  he  stood  in  silence  watching  the  end 
of  his  cigar,  which  went  out  in  his  hand.  Then  without 
meeting  my  eyes  he  asked  in  a  voice  that  had  a  curiously 
muffled  sound :  — 

'^It's  rough  on  Sally,  isn't  it?  How  does  she  stand 
it?" 

''As  she  stands  everything  —  like  an  angel  out  of 
heaven." 


THE  RED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE       325 

^'Yes,  you're  right  —  she  is  an  angel/'  he  returned, 
still  without  looking  into  my  face.  An  instant  later, 
as  if  in  response  to  an  impulse  which  for  once  rose  supe- 
rior to  the  dead  weight  of  custom,  he  blurted  out  with 
a  kind  of  suffering  violence,  '^I  say,  Ben,  you  know 
it's  really  awful.  I'm  so  cut  up  about  it  I  don't  know 
what  to  do.  I  wish  you'd  let  me  help  you  out  of  this 
hole  till  you're  on  your  feet.  I've  got  nobody  on 
me,  you  see,  and  I  can't  spend  half  of  my  income." 

For  the  first  time  in  our  long  acquaintance  the 
tables  were  turned;  it  was  George  who  was  awkward 
now,  and  I  who  was  perfectly  at  my  ease. 

^'I  can't  do  that,  George,"  I  said  quietly,  ^^but  I'm 
grateful  to  you  all  the  same.     You're  a  first-rate  chap." 

We  shook  hands  with  a  grip,  and  while  he  still  lin- 
gered to  strike  a  match  and  light  the  fresh  cigar  he  had 
taken  from  his  case,  the  little  yellow  flame  followed, 
like  an  illuminated  pointer,  the  expression  of  suffering 
violence  which  showed  so  strangely  upon  his  face. 
Then,  tossing  the  match  into  the  gutter,  he  went  on 
his  way,  while  I  passed  the  great  scarred  body  of  the 
sycamore  and  hurried  down  the  long  hill,  which  I 
never  descended  without  recalling,  as  the  General  had 
said,  that  I  had  once  ^^  toted  potatoes  for  John  Chit- 
ling." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  next  block,  I  saw  the  minia- 
ture box  hedge  and  the  clipped  yew  in  the  little  garden 
of  Dr.  Theophilus,  and  as  I  turned  down  the  side  street, 
the  face  of  the  old  man  looked  at  me  from  the  midst  of 
some  leafless  red  currant  bushes  that  grew  in  clumps 
at  the  end  of  the  walk. 

^^Come  in.  Ben.  come  in  a  minute,"  he  called,  beam- 


326  THE   ROMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

ing  at  me  over  his  lowered  spectacles,  ^ there's  a 
thing  or  two  I  should  like  to  say.'' 

As  I  entered  the  garden  and  walked  along  the  tiny 
path,  bordered  by  oyster  shells,  to  the  red  currant 
bushes  beyond;  he  laid  his  pruning-knife  on  the  ground, 
and  sat  down  on  an  old  bench  beside  a  little  green 
table,  on  which  a  sparrow  was  hopping  about.  On 
his  seventy-fifth  birthday  he  had  resigned  his  profession 
to  take  to  gardening,  and  I  had  heard  from  no  less  an 
authority  than  the  General  that  ^^  that  old  fool  The- 
ophilus  was  spending  more  money  in  roses  than  Mrs. 
Clay  was  making  out  of  pickles. '' 

''What  is  it,  doctor?"  I  asked,  for,  oppressed  by  my 
own  burdens,  I  waited  a  little  impatiently  to  hear 
^Hhe  thing  or  two"  he  wanted  to  say. 

''You  see  IVe  given  up  people,  Ben,  and  taken  to 
roses,"  he  began,  while  I  stood  grinding  my  heel  into 
the  gravelled  walk;  "and  it's  a  good  change,  too,  w^hen 
you  come  to  my  years,  there's  no  doubt  of  that.  If 
you  weed  and  water  them  and  plant  an  occasional 
onion  about  their  roots  you  can  make  roses  what  you 
want  —  but  you  can't  people  —  no,  not  even  when 
you've  helped  to  bring  them  into  the  world.  No 
matter  how  straight  they  come  at  birth,  they're  all 
just  as  liable  as  not  to  take  an  inward  crank  and  go 
crooked  before  the  end."  He  looked  thoughtfully  at 
the  sparrow  hopping  about  on  the  green  table,  and  his 
face,  beautiful  with  the  wisdom  of  more  than  seventy 
years,  was  illumined  by  a  smile  which  seemed  in  some 
way  a  part  of  the  April  sunshine  flooding  the  clumps 
of  red  currant  bushes  and  the  miniature  box.  "George 
—  I  mean  old  George  —  was  telling  me  about  yoi» 


THE  RED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE       327 

Ben,"  he  went  on  after  a  minute,  ''and  as  soon  as  I 
heard  of  your  troubles,  I  said  to  Tina  —  'We've  got 
a  roof  and  we've  got  a  bite,  so  they'll  come  to  us.' 
What  with  Tina's  pickling  and  preserving  we  manage 
to  keep  a  home,  my  boy,  and  you're  more  than  welcome 
to  share  it  with  us  —  you  and  Sally  and  your  little 
Benjamin  — " 

'^Doctor  —  doctor  — "  was  all  I  could  say,  for  words 
failed  me,  and  I,  also,  stood  looking  thoughtfully  at 
the  sparrow  hopping  about  on  the  green  table,  with  eyes 
that  saw  two  small  brown  feathered  bodies  in  the  place 
where,  a  minute  before,  there  had  been  but  one. 

'^Come  when  you're  ready,  come  when  you're  ready," 
he  repeated,  ''and  we'll  make  you  welcome,  Tina  and 
I." 

I  grasped  his  hand  without  speaking,  and  as  I 
wrung  it  in  my  own,  I  felt  that  it  was  long  and  fine  and 
nervous,  —  the  hand,  not  of  a  worker,  but  of  a  dreamer. 
Then  tearing  my  gaze  from  the  sparrow,  I  went  back 
through  the  clump  of  red  currant  bushes,  and  between 
the  shining  rows  of  oyster  shells,  to  the  busy  street 
which  led  to  a  busy  world  and  my  office  door. 

A  fortnight  later  the  house  was  sold  over  our  heads, 
and  when  I  came  up  in  the  afternoon,  I  found  a  red 
flag  flying  at  the  gate,  and  the  dusty  buggies  of  a  few 
real  estate  men  tied  to  the  young  maples  on  the  side- 
walk. Upstairs  Sally  was  sitting  on  a  couch,  in  the 
midst  of  the  scattered  furniture,  while  George  Boling- 
broke  stood  looking  ruefully  at  a  pile  of  silver  and 
bric-a-brac  that  filled  the  centre  of  the  floor. 

^'Are  you  laughing  now,  Sally?"  I  asked  desperately, 
as  I  entered. 


328  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^Not  just  this  minute^  dear,  because  that  awful  man 
and  a  crowd  of  people  have  been  going  over  the  house, 
and  Aunt  Euphronasia  and  I  locked  ourselves  in  the 
nursery.  1^11  begin  again,  however,  as  soon  as  they've 
gone.  All  these  things  belong  to  George.  It  was 
silly  of  him  to  buy  them,  but  he  says  he  had  no  idea  of 
allowing  them  to  go  to  strangers.'' 

^^Well,  George  as  well  as  anybody,  I  suppose,"  I 
responded,  moodily. 

Beside  the  window  Aunt  Euphronasia  was  rocking 
slowly  back  and  forth,  with  little  Benjamin  fast  asleep 
on  her  knees,  and  her  great  rolling  eyes,  rimmed  with 
white,  passed  from  me  to  George  and  from  George 
to  me  with  a  defiant  and  angry  look. 

'^I  ain'  seen  nuttin'  like  dese  yer  doin's  sence  war 
time,''  she  grumbled;  ^^en  hit's  wuss  den  war  time, 
caze  war  time  hit's  fur  all,  en  dish  yer  hit  ain't  fur  no- 
body cep'n  us." 

Throwing  herself  back  on  the  pillow,  Sally  lay  for  a 
minute  with  her  hand  over  her  eyes. 

^'I  can  laugh  now,"  she  said  at  last,  raising  her 
head,  and  she,  also,  as  she  sat  there,  pale  and  weary 
but  bravely  smiling,  glanced  from  me  to  George  with 
a  perplexed,  inscrutable  look.  A  minute  later,  when 
George  made  some  pleasant,  comforting  remark  and 
went  down  to  join  the  crowd  gathered  before  the  door, 
her  gaze  still  followed  him,  a  Httle  pensively,  as  he  left 
the  room.  The  bruise  throbbed  again;  and  walking 
to  the  window,  I  stood  looking  through  the  partly 
closed  blinds  to  the  street  below,  where  I  could  see  the 
dusty  buggies,  the  switching  tails  of  the  horses,  bothered 
by  flies,  and  the  group  of  real  estate  men,  lounging, 


THE  RED  FLAG  AT  THE  GATE       329 

while  they  spat  tobacco  juice,  by  the  red  flag  at  the 
gate.  In  the  warm  air,  which  was  heavy  with  the 
scent  of  a  purple  catalpa  tree  on  the  corner,  the  drawling 
voice  of  the  auctioneer  could  be  heard  like  the  loud 
droning  of  innumerable  bees.  A  carriage  passed  down 
the  street  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  and  the  very  dust,  as 
it  drifted  toward  us,  was  drenched  with  the  heady 
perfume  of  the  catalpa. 

''That  tree  makes  me  dizzy,"  I  said;  ''it's  odd  I 
never  minded  it  before.'' 

''You  aren't  well  —  that's  the  trouble  —  but  even 
if  you  were,  the  voice  of  that  man  down  there  is  enough 
to  drive  any  sane  person  crazy.  He  sounds  exactly  as 
if  he  were  intoning  a  church  service  over  our  misfor- 
tunes. That  is  certainly  adding  horror  to  humiUa- 
tion,"  she  finished  with  merriment. 

"At  any  rate  he  doesn't  humiliate  you?" 

"Of  course  he  doesn't.  Imagine  one  of  the  Blands 
and  the  Fairfaxes  being  humihated  by  an  auctioneer ! 
He  amuses  me,  even  though  it  is  our  woes  he  is  singing 
about.  If  I  were  Aunt  Mitty,  I'd  probably  be  seated 
on  the  front  porch  with  my  embroidery  at  this  minute, 
bowing  calmly  to  the  passers-by,  as  if  it  were  the  most 
matter-of-fact  occurrence  in  the  world  to  have  an  auc- 
tioneer selling  one's  house  over  one's  head." 

"Dear  old  enemy,  I  wonder  what  she  thinks  of 
this?" 

"She  hasn't  heard  it,  probably.  A  newspaper 
never  enters  her  doors,  and  do  you  believe  she  has  a 
relative  who  would  be  reckless  enough  to  break  it  to 
her?" 

"I  hope  she  hasn't,  anyhow." 


330  THE  ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

"They  haven't  had  time  to  go  to  her.  They  have 
all  been  here.  People  have  been  coming  all  day  with 
offers  of  help  —  even  Jessy's  Mr.  Cottrel  —  and  oh, 
Ben,  she  told  me  she  meant  to  marry  him !  Bonny 
Page/^  a  little  sob  broke  from  her,  ^^ Bonny  Page  wanted 
to  give  up  her  trip  to  Europe  and  have  me  take  the 
money.  Then  everybody's  been  sending  me  lunch- 
eons and  jeUies  and  things  just  exactly  as  if  I  were  an 
invalid.'^ 

^' Hit's  de  way  deydoes  in  war  time,  honey,"  remarked 
Aunt  Euphronasia,  shaking  little  Benjamin  with  the 
slow,  cradling  movement  of  the  arms  known  only  to 
the  negroes. 

Downstairs  the  auction  was  over,  the  drawling 
monologue  was  succeeded  by  a  babel  of  voices,  and 
glaneing,  through  the  blinds,  I  saw  the  real  estate  men 
untying  their  horses  from  the  young  maples.  A  swirl 
of  dust  laden  with  the  scent  of  the  catalpa  blew  up 
from  the  street. 

^^But  we  can't  take  help,  Sally,"  I  said,  almost 
fiercely. 

^'No,  we  can^t  take  help,  I  told  them  so  —  I  told 
them  that  we  didn't  need  it.  In  a  few  years  we'd 
be  back  where  we  were,  I  said,  and  I  beheved  it." 

^^Do  you  beheve  it  after  listening  to  that  confoundec^ 
fog-horn  on  the  porch?" 

^^Well,  it's  a  trial  to  faith,  as  Aunt  Mitty  would  say^ 
but,  oh,  Ben,  I  really  do  believe  it  still." 


CKIPTER  XXVII 

WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR  BEHIND  US 

It  was  a  warm  spring  afternoon  when  we  closed  the 
door  behind  us  for  the  last  time,  and  took  the  car  for 
Church  Hill,  where  we  had  rented  several  rooms  on  the 
first  floor  of  the  house  with  the  enchanted  garden. 
As  the  car  descended  into  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Old  Market,  with  its  tightly  packed  barrooms,  its 
squalid  junk  shops,  its  strings  of  old  clothes  waving 
before  darkened,  ill-smelling  doorways,  I  seemed  to 
have  stepped  suddenly  backward  into  a  place  that  was 
divided  between  the  dream  and  the  actuality.  I 
remembered  my  awakening  on  the  pile  of  straw,  with 
the  face  of  John  Chithng  beaming  down  on  me  over  the 
wheelbarrow  of  vegetables;  and  the  incidents  of  that 
morning  —  the  long  line  of  stalls  giving  out  brilhant 
flashes  from  turnips  and  onions,  the  sharp,  fishy  odour 
from  the  strings  of  mackerel  and  perch,  the  very  blood- 
stains on  the  apron  and  rolled-up  sleeves  of  the  butcher 
—  all  these  things  were  more  vi\dd  to  my  consciousness 
than  were  the  faces  of  Sally  and  of  Aunt  Euphronasia, 
or  the  fretful  cries  of  little  Benjamin,  swathed  in  a  blue 
veil,  in  the  old  negress's  lap.  I  had  meant  to  make 
good  that  morning,  when  I  had  knelt  there  sorting  the 
yellow  apples.  I  had  made  good  for  a  time,  and  yet 
to-day  I  was  back  in  the  place  from  which  I  had  started. 
Well,  not  in  the  same  place,  perhaps,  but  my  foot  had 

331 


332  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

slipped  on  the  ladder,  and  I  must  begin  again,  if  not 
from  the  very  bottom,  at  least  from  the  middle  rung. 
The  market  wagons,  covered  with  canvas,  w^ere  still 
standing  with  empty  shafts  in  the  littered  street, 
as  if  they  had  waited  there,  a  shelter  for  prowling 
dogs,  until  my  return.  Mrs.  Chitling's  slovenly  door- 
step I  could  not  see,  but  as  w^e  ascended  the  long  hill 
on  the  other  side,  I  recognised  the  musty  ^^old  clothes'' 
shop,  in  which  I  had  stumbled  on  ^^Sir  Charles  Gran- 
dison''  and  Johnson's  Dictionary.  That  minute, 
I  understood  now,  had  been  in  reality  the  turning- 
point  in  my  career.  In  that  close-smelling  room  I 
had  come  to  the  cross-roads  of  success  or  failure,  and 
swerving  aside  from  the  dull  level  of  ignorance,  I  had 
rushed,  almost  by  accident,  into  the  better  way.  The 
very  odour  of  the  place  was  still  in  my  nostrils  —  a 
mixture  of  old  clothes,  of  stale  cheese,  of  overripe 
melons.  A  sudden  dizziness  seized  me,  and  a  wave  of 
physical  nausea  passed  over  me,  as  if  the  intense  heat 
of  that  past  summer  afternoon  had  gone  to  my  head. 

The  car  stopped  at  the  corner  of  old  Saint  John's ; 
we  got  out,  assisting  Aunt  Euphronasia,  and  then 
turned  down  a  side  street  in  the  direction  of  our  new 
home.  As  we  mounted  the  curving  steps,  Sally  passed 
a  little  ahead  of  me,  and  looked  back  with,  her  hand  on 
the  door. 

^^ I  am  happy,  Ben,''  she  said  with  a  smile  ;  and  with 
the  words  on  her  lips,  she  crossed  the  threshold  and 
entered  the  wide  hall,  where  the  moth-eaten  stags'  heads, 
worn  bare  of  fur,  still  hung  on  the  faded  plaster. 

My  first  impression  upon  entering  the  room  was  that 
the  strange  surroundings  struck  with  a  homehke  and 


WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR   BEHIND   US  333 

familiar  aspect  upon  my  consciousness.  Then,  as  be- 
wilderment gave  place  before  a  closer  scrutiny,  I  saw 
that  this  aspect  was  due  to  the  presence  of  the  object-s 
by  which  I  had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  see  Sally 
surrounded.  Her  amber  satin  curtains  hung  at  the 
windows ;  the  de^p  couch,  with  the  amber  hning,  upon 
which  she  rested  before  dressing  for  dinner,  stood  near 
the  hearth;  and  even  the  two  crystal  vases,  which  I 
had  always  seen  holding  fresh  flowers  upon  her  small, 
inlaid  writing  desk,  were  filled  now  with  branching 
clusters  of  American  Beauty  roses.  Beyond  them,  and 
beyond  the  amber  satin  curtains  at  the  long  window, 
I  saw  the  elm  boughs  arching  against  a  pale  gold  sunset 
into  which  a  single  swallow  was  fl}'ing.  And  I  remem- 
ber that  swallow  as  I  remember  the  look,  swift,  expect- 
ant, as  if  it,  also,  were  flying,  that  trembled,  for  an 
instant,  on  Sally's  face. 

^'It  is  George,"  she  said,  turning  to  me  with  radiant 
eyes;  ^^ George  has  done  this.  These  are  the  things  he 
bought,  and  I  wondered  so  what  he  would  do  with 
them."  Then  before  something  in  my  face,  the  radi- 
ance died  out  of  her  eyes.  '^  Would  you  rather  he 
didn't  do  it  ?  Would  you  rather  I  shouldn't  keep 
them?"     she  asked. 

A  struggle  began  within  me.  Through  the  window  I 
could  see  still  the  pale  gold  sunset  beyond  the  elms, 
but  the  swallow  was  gone,  and  gone,  also,  from  Sally's 
face  was  the  look  as  of  one  fl}dng. 

^^ Would  you  rather  that  I  shouldn't  keep  them?" 
she  asked  again,  and  her  voice  was  very  gentle. 

At  that  gentleness  the  struggle  ceased  as  sharply  as 
it  had  begun. 


334  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^Do  as  you  choose,  darling,  you  know  far  better 
than  I/^  I  replied ;  and  bending  over  her,  I  raised  her 
chin  that  was  lowered,  and  kissed  her  lips. 

A  Hght,  a  bloom,  something  that  was  fragrant  and 
soft  as  the  colour  and  scent  of  the  American  Beauty 
roses,  broke  over  her  as  she  looked  up  at  me  with  her 
mouth  still  opening  under  my  kiss. 

^^Then  I'll  keep  them,''  she  answered,  '^because  it 
would  hurt  him  so,  Ben,  if  I  sent  them  back." 

The  colour  and  bloom  were  still  there,  but  in  my  heart 
a  chill  had  entered  to  drive  out  the  warmth.  My  ruin, 
my  failure,  the  poverty  to  which  I  had  brought  Sally 
and  the  child  through  my  inordinate  ambition,  and 
the  weight  of  the  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  debt 
on  my  shoulders  —  all  these  things  returned  to  my 
memory,  with  an  additional  heaviness,  like  a  burden 
that  has  been  lifted  only  to  drop  back  more  crushingly. 
And  as  always  in  my  thoughts  now,  this  sense  of  my 
failure  came  to  me  in  the  image  of  George  Bolingbroke, 
"?\dth  his  air  of  generous  self-sufficiency,  as  if  he  needed 
nothing  because  he  had  been  born  to  the  possession  of 
all  necessary  things. 

Sally  drew  the  long  pins  from  her  hat,  laid  them, 
with  the  floating  white  veil  and  her  coat,  on  a  chair 
in  one  corner,  and  began  to  move  softly  about  in  her 
restful,  capable  way.  Her  very  presence,  I  had  once 
said  of  her,  would  make  a  home,  and  I  remembered 
this  a  little  later  as  I  watched  the  shadow  of  her  head 
flit  across  the  faded  walls  above  the  fine  old  wainscot- 
ing, from  which  the  white  paint  was  peeling  in  places. 
Her  touch,  swift  and  unfaltering,  released  some  spirit 
of  beauty  and  cheerfulness  wiiich  must  have  lain  im- 


WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR   BEHIND   US  335 

prisoned  for  a  generation  in  the  superb  old  rooms. 
On  the  floor  with  us  there  were  no  other  tenants,  but 
when  I  heard  an  occasional  sound  in  the  room  above, 
I  remembered  that  the  agent  had  told  me  of  an  aris- 
tocratic, though  poverty-stricken,  maiden  lady,  who 
was  starving  up  there  in  the  midst  of  some  rare  pieces 
of  old  Chippendale  furniture,  and  with  the  portrait  of 
an  English  ancestress  by  Gainsborough  hanging  above 
her  fireless  hearth. 

''The  baby  is  asleep,  so  Aunt  Euphronasia  and  I  are 
cooking  supper,"  said  Sally,  when  she  had  spread  the 
cloth  over  the  little  table,  and  laid  covers  for  two  on 
either  side  of  the  shaded  lamp;  ''at  least  she's  cooking 
and  I'm  serving.  Come  into  the  garden,  Ben,  before 
it's  ready,  and  run  with  me  down  the  terrace." 

"The  garden  is  ruined.  I  saw  it  when  I  came  over 
with  the  agent." 

"Ruined?  And  with  such  lilacs  !  They  are  a  little 
late  because  of  the  cold  spring,  but  a  perfect  bower." 

She  caught  my  hand  as  she  spoke,  and  we  passed 
together  through  the  long  window  leading  from  our 
bedroom  to  the  porch,  where  a  few  startled  swallows 
flew  out,  crying  harshly,  from  among  the  white  columns. 
Many  of  the  elms  had  died;  the  magnolias  and  la- 
burnums, with  the  exception  of  a  few  stately  trees, 
had  decayed  on  the  terrace,  and  the  thick  maze  of  box 
was  now  thin  and  rapidly  dwindling  away  from  the 
gravelled  paths.  On  the  ground,  under  the  young 
green  of  dandelion  and  wild  violets,  the  rotting  leaves 
of  last  year  were  still  lying ;  and  as  we  descended  the 
steps,  and  followed  the  littered  walks  down  the  hillside, 
broken  pieces  of  pottery  crumbled  beneath  our  feet. 


336  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

Clasping  hands  like  two   children,   we  stood  for   a 
minute  in  silence,  with  our  eyes  on  the  ruin  before  us, 
and  the  memory  of  the  enchanted  garden  and  our  first 
love  in  our  thoughts.       Then,  ^^Oh,  Ben,  the  lilacs  !'V 
said  Sally,  softly. 

They  were  there  on  all  sides,  floating  like  purple  and 
white  clouds  in  the  w^nd,  and  shedding  their  delicious 
perfume  over  the  scattered  rose  arbours  and  the 
dwindling  box.  Light,  delicate,  and  brave,  they  had 
withstood  frost  and  decay,  while  the  latticed  summer 
houses  had  fallen  under  the  weight  of  the  microphylla 
roses  that  grew  over  them.  The  wind  now  was  laden 
with  their  sweetness,  and  the  golden  light  seemed  aware 
of  their  colour  as  it  entered  the  garden  softly  through 
the  screen  of  boughs. 

^^Do  you  remember  the  first  day,  Ben?^' 

'^The  first  day?  That  was  when  President  lifted 
me  on  the  wall  —  and  even  the  wall  has  gone.'' 

"Did  you  dream  then  that  you'd  ever  stand  here 
with  me  like  this?" 

"I  dreamed  nothing  else.  I've  never  dreamed  any- 
thing else." 

"Then  you  aren't  so  very  unhappy  as  long  as  we  are 
together?" 

"Not  so  unhappy  as  I  might  be,  but,  remember, 
I'm  a  man,  Sally,  and  I  have  failed."  . 

"Yes,  you're  a  man,  and  3^ou  couldn't  be  happy 
even  with  me  —  without  something  else." 

"The  something  else  is  a  part  of  you.  It  belongs 
to  you,  and  that's  mostly  why  I  want  to  make  good. 
These  debts  are  like  a  dead  weight  —  like  the  Old 
Man  of  the  Sea  —  on  my  shoulders.  Until  I'm  able 
to  shake  them  off,  I  shall  not  stand  up  straight." 


WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR   BEHIXD   US  337 

''I'm  glad  youVe  gone  back  to  the  railroad. '^ 
''There  are  a  lot  of  men  in  the  railroad;  and  very 
few  places.  The  General  found  me  this  job  at  six 
thousand  a  year,  which  is  precious  little  for  a  man  of 
my  earning  capacity.  They'll  probably  want  to  send 
me  down  South  to  build  up  the  traffic  on  the  Tennessee 
and  Carolina,  —  I  don't  know.  It  will  take  me  a  month 
anyway  to  wind  up  my  affairs  and  start  back  with  the 
road.  Oh;  it's  going  to  be  a  long,  hard  pull  when  it 
once  begins.'' 

Pressing  her  cheek  to  my  arm,  she  rubbed  it  softly 
up  and  down  with  a  gentle  caress.  "Well,  we'll  pull 
it.  never  fear,"  she  responded. 

At  our  feet  the  twilight  rose  slowly  from  the  sunken 
terrace,  and  the  perfume  of  the  lilacs  seemed  to  grow 
stronger  as  the  light  faded.  For  a  moment  we  stood 
drawn  close  together ;  then  turning,  with  my  arm  still 
about  her,  we  went  back  over  the  broken  pieces  of 
pottery,  and  ascending  the  steps,  left  the  pearly  after- 
glow and  the  fragrant  stillness  behind  us. 

Half  an  hour  later,  when  we  were  in  the  midst  of  our 
supper,  which  she  had  served  with  gaiety  and  I  had 
eaten  with  sadness,  a  hesitating  knock  came  at  the 
door  leading  into  the  dim  hall,  and  opening  it  with  sur- 
prise, I  was  confronted  by  a  small,  barefooted  urchin, 
who  stood,  like  the  resurrected  image  of  my  own  child- 
hood, holding  a  covered  dish  at  arm's  length  before  him. 

'^If  you  please,  ma'am,"  he  said,  under  my  shoulder, 
to  Sally,  who  was  standing  behind  me,  '^ma's  jest  heard 
you'd  moved  over  here,  an'  she's  sent  you  some  waffles 
for  supper." 

"And  what  may  ma's  name  be?"    enquired   Sally 


338  THE    ROMANCE    OF    A   PLAIN    MAN 

politely;  as  she  removed  the  red  and  white  napkin 
which  covered  the  gift. 

^^Ma's  Mrs.  Titterbury^  an'  she  lives  jest  over  yonder. 
She  says  she's  been  a-lookin'  out  for  you  an'  she  hopes 
you've  come  to  stay." 

^^  That's  very  kind  of  her,  and  I'm  much  obliged. 
Tell  her  to  come  to  see  me." 

^^  She's  a-comin',  ma'am/'  he  responded  cheerfully, 
and  as  he  withdrew,  his  place  was  immediately  filled 
by  a  little  girl  in  a  crimson  calico,  with  two  very  tight 
and  very  slender  braids  hanging  down  to  her  waist  in 
the  back. 

^^Ma's  been  makin'  jelly  an'  syllabub,  an'  she  thought 
you  might  like  a  taste,"  she  said,  offering  a  glass  dish. 
'^Her  name  is  Mrs.  Barley,  an'  she  lives  around  the 
corner." 

^^ These  are  evidently  our  poorer  neighbours,"  ob- 
served Sally,  as  the  door  closed  after  the  crimson  calico 
and  the  slender  braids ;  '^  where  are  the  w^ell-to-do  ones 
that  live  in  all  the  big  houses  around  us?" 

^^It  probably  never  occurred  to  them  that  we  might 
want  a  supper.  It's  the  poor  who  have  imagination. 
By  Jove  !   there's  another  !" 

This  time  it  was  a  stout,  elderly  female  in  rusty  black, 
with  a  very  red  face,  whom,  after  some  frantic  groping 
of  memory,  I  recognised  as  Mrs.  Cudlip,  unaltered  ap- 
parently by  her  thirty  years  of  widowhood. 

^^I  jest  heard  you'd  moved  back  over  here,  Benjy," 
she  remarked,  and  at  the  words  and  the  voice,  I  seemed 
to  shrink  again  into  the  small,  half-scared  figure  clad 
in  a  pair  of  shapeless  breeches  which  were  made  out 
of  an  old  dolman  my  mother  had  once  worn  to  funerals, 


WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR   BEHIND   US  339 

'^an^  I  thought  as  you  might  like  a  taste  of  muffins 
made  arter  the  old  receipt  of  yo'  po'  ma's  —  the  very 
same  kind  of  muffins  she  sent  me  by  you  on  the  mornin' 
arter  I  buried  my  man/' 

Placing  the  dish  upon  the  table,  she  seated  herself, 
In  response  to  an  invitation  from  Sally,  and  spread 
her  rusty  black  skirt,  with  a  leisurely  m.ovement, 
over  her  comfortable  lap.  As  I  looked  at  her,  I  forgot 
that  I  stood  six  feet  two  inches  in  my  stockings;  I 
forgot  that  I  had  married  a  descendant  of  the  Blands 
and  the  Fairfaxes;  and  I  remembered  as  plainly  as  if 
it  were  yesterday,  the  morning  of  the  funeral,  when, 
with  my  mother's  grey  blanket  shawl  pinned  on  my 
shoulders,  I  had  sat  on  the  step  outside  and  waited 
for  the  service  to  end,  while  I  made  scornful  faces  at 
the  merry  driver  of  the  hearse. 

^^It's  been  going  on  thirty  years  sence  yo'  ma  died, 
ain't  it,  Benjy  ?"  she  enquired,  while  I  struggled  vainly 
to  recover  a  proper  consciousness  of  my  size  and  my 
importance. 

^^I  was  a  little  chap  at  the  time,  Mrs.  Cudlip,"  I 
returned. 

^^An'  it's  been  twenty,  I  reckon/'  she  pursued 
reminiscently,  ^' sence  yo'  pa  was  took.  Wall,  wall, 
time  does  fly  when  you  come  to  think  of  deaths,  now, 
doesn't  it?  I  al'ays  said  thar  wa'nt  nothin'  so  cal- 
culated to  put  cheer  an'  spirit  into  you  as  jest  to  re- 
member the  people  who've  dropped  off  an'  died  while 
you've  been  spared.  You  didn't  see  much  of  yo'  pa 
durin'  his  last  days,  did  you?" 

^^Xever  after  Iran  away,  and  that  was  the  night  he 
brought  his  second  wife  home." 


340  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^He  had  a  hard  time  toward  the  end,  but  I  reckon 
she  had  a  harder.  It  wa'nt  that  he  was  a  bad  man  at 
bottom,  but  he  was  soft-natured  an'  easy,  an'  what  he 
needed  was  to  be  helt  an'  to  be  helt  steady.  Some 
men  air  like  that  —  they  can't  stand  alone  a  minute 
without  beginnin'  to  wobble.  Now  as  long  as  yo' 
ma  lived,  she  kept  a  tight  hand  on  yo'  pa,  an'  he  stayed 
straight ;  but  jest  as  soon  as  he  was  left  alone,  he  began 
to  wobble,  an'  from  wobblin'  he  took  to  the  bottle,  and 
from  the  bottle  he  took  to  that  brass-headed  huzzy  he 
married.  She  was  the  death  of  him,  Benjy;  I  ought 
to  know,  for  I  lived  next  do'  to  'em  to  the  day  of  his 
burial.  As  to  that,  anyway,  ma'am,"  she  added  to 
Sally,  ^^my  humble  opinion  is  that  women  have  killed 
mo'  men  anyway  than  they've  ever  brought  into  the 
world.  It's  a  po'  thought,  I've  al'ays  said,  in  which 
you  can't  find  some  comfort." 

''You  were  very  kind  to  him,  I  have  heard,"  I  ob- 
served, as  she  paused  for  breath  and  turned  toward 
me. 

''It  wa'nt  mo'n  my  duty  if  I  was,  Benjy,  for  yo'  ma 
was  a  real  good  neighbour  to  me,  an'  many's  the  plate 
of  buttered  muffins  you've  brought  to  my  do'  when 
you  wa'nt  any  higher  than  that." 

It  was  true,  I  admitted  the  fact  as  gracefully  as  I 
could. 

"My  mother  thought  a  great  deal  of  you,"  I  remarked. 

"You  don't  see  many  of  her  like  now,"  she  returned 
with  a  sigh,  "the  mo's  the  pity.  'Thar  ain't  room  for 
two  in  marriage,'  she  used  to  say,  'one  of  'em  has  got 
to  git  an'  I'd  rather  'twould  be  the  other  ! '  'Twa'nt 
that  way  with  the  palaverin'  yaller-headed  piece  that 


WE   CLOSE   THE   DOOR   BEHIND   US  341 

yo^  pa  married  arterwards.  She'd  a  sharp  enough 
tongue^  but  a  tongue  don't  do  you  much  good  with 
a  man  unless  he  knows  you've  got  the  backbone  be- 
hind to  drive  it.  It  ain't  the  tongue,  but  the  back- 
bone that  counts  in  marriage.  x4t  first  he  was  mJghty 
soft,  but  befo'  two  weeks  was  up  he'd  begun  to  beat 
her,  an'  I  ain't  got  a  particle  of  respect  for  a  woman 
that's  once  been  beaten.  Men  air  born  mean,  I  know, 
it's  thar  natur,  an'  the  good  Lord  intended  it ;  but,  all 
the  same,  it's  my  belief  that  mighty  iew  women  come 
in  for  a  downright  beatin'  unless  they've  bent  thar 
backs  to  welcome  it.  It  takes  two  to  make  a  beatin' 
the  same  as  a  courtin',  an'  w^har  the  back  ain't  ready, 
the  blows  air  slow  to  fall." 

'^I  never  saw  her  but  once,  and  then  I  ran  away," 
I  remarked  to  fill  in  her  pause. 

"Wall,  you  didn't  miss  much,  or  you  either,  ma'am," 
she  rejoined  politely ;  "she  was  the  kind  that  makes  an 
honest  woman  ashamed  to  belong  to  a  sex  that's  got 
to  thrive  through  foolishness,  an'  to  git  to  a  place  by 
sidlin'  backwards.  That  wa'nt  yo'  ma's  way,  Benjy, 
an'  I've  often  said  that  I  don't  believe  she  ever  hung 
back  in  her  life  an'  waited  for  a  man  to  hand  her  what 
she  could  walk  right  up  an'  take  holt  of  without  his 
help.  ^The  woman  that  waits  on  a  man  has  got  a 
^.ong  wait  ahead  of  her,'  was  what  she  used  to 
say." 

Rising  to  her  feet,  she  stood  wdth  the  empty  plate 
in  her  hand,  and  her  back  ceremoniously  bent  in  a 
parting  bow. 

"Is  that  yo'  youngest  ?  Now,  ain't  he  a  fine  baby  !" 
she  burst  out,  as  little  Benjamin  appeared,  crowing, 


342  THE   ROMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

in  the  arms  of  Aunt  Euphronasia,  ^'an  he's  got  all  the 
soft,  pleasant  look  of  yo'  po'  pa  a'ready/' 

I  opened  the  door,  and  with  a  last  effusive  good-by, 
she  passed  out  in  her  stiff,  rustling  black,  which  looked 
as  if  she  had  gone  into  perpetual  mourning. 

^'Will  you  have  some  syllabub,  Ben?''  enquired 
Sally  primly,  as  the  door  closed. 

^^ Sally,  how  will  you  stand  it?" 

^^She  wants  to  be  kind  —  she  really  wants  to  be." 

Crossing  moodily  to  the  table,  I  pushed  aside  the 
waffles,  the  muffins,  and  the  syllabub,  with  an  angry 
gesture. 

^'It  is  what  I  came  from,  after  all.     It  is  my  class." 

^^Your  class?"  she  repeated,  laughing  and  sobbing 
together  with  her  arms  on  my  shoulders.  ^^ There's 
nobody  else  in  the  whole  world  in  your  class,  Ben." 


CHAPTER   XXYIll 

IN   WHICH   SALLY   STOOPS 

A  ^TEEK  or  two  later  the  General  stopped  me  as  I 
was  leaving  his  office. 

^'I  don't  like  the  look  of  you,  Ben.  What's  the 
matter?'' 

''My  head  has  been  troubling  me,  General.  It's 
been  splitting  for  a  week,  and  I  can't  see  straight." 

''You've  thought  too  much,  that's  the  mischief. 
Why  not  cut  the  whole  thing  and  go  West  with,  me 
to-morrow  in  my  car?     I'll  be  gone  for  a  month." 

''It's  out  of  the  question.  A  man  who  is  over  head 
and  ears  in  debt  oughtn't  to  be  spinning  about  the 
countrv^  in  a  private  car." 

'^  I  don't  see  the  logic  of  that  as  long  as  it's  some- 
body else's  car." 

"You'd  see  it  if  you  had  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars   of  debt." 

'^W^ell,  I've  been  worse  off.  I've  had  two  hundred 
chousand  devils  of  gout.  Here,  come  along  with  me. 
Bring  Sally,  bring  the  youngster.  I'll  take  the  whole 
bunch  of  'em." 

When  I  declined,  he  still  urged  me,  showing  his  an- 
noyance plainly,  as  a  man  does  in  whom  opposition 
even  in  trifles  arouses  a  resentful,  almost  a  violent,  spirit 
of  conquest.  So,  I  knew,  he  had  pursued  every  aim, 
great  or  small,  of  his  life,  with  the  look  in  his  face  of  an 

343 


344  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

intelligent  bulldog,  and  the  conviction  somewhere  in 
his  brain  that  the  only  method  of  overcoming  an  ob- 
stacle was  to  hang  on,  if  necessary,  until  the  obstacle 
grew  too  weak  to  put  forth  further  resistance.  Once, 
and  once  only,  to  my  knowledge,  had  this  power  to 
hang  on,  this  bulldog  grip,  availed  him  but  little,  and 
that  was  when  his  violence  had  encountered  a  gentle- 
ness as  soft  as  velvet,  yet  as  inflexible  as  steel.  In  his 
whole  life  only  poor  little  Miss  Matoaca  had  withstood 
him ;  and  as  I  met  the  angry,  indomitable  spirit  in  his 
eyes,  there  rose  before  me  the  figure  of  his  old  love, 
mth  her  look  of  meek,  unconquerable  obstinacy  and 
\^-ith  the  faint  fragrance  and  colour  about  her  that  waa 
like  the  fragrance  and  colour  of  faded  rose-leaves. 

^^ There's  no  use,  General.  I  can't  do  it,"  I  said  at 
last,  and  parting  from  him  at  the  corner,  I  signalled 
the  car  for  Church  Hill,  while  he  drove  slowly  up-town 
in  his  buggy. 

It  was  a  breathless  June  afternoon.  A  speU  of  in- 
tense early  heat  had  swept  over  the  country,  and  the 
sunamer  flowers  were  unfolding  as  if  forced  open  in  the 
air  of  a  hothouse.  At  the  door  Sally  met  me  with,  a 
telegram  from  Jessy  announcing  her  marriage  to  Mr. 
Cottrel  in  New  York;  but  the  words  and  the  fact 
seemed  to  me  to  have  no  nearer  relation  to  my  life 
than  if  they  had  described  the  romantic  adventures  of 
a  girl,  in  a  crimson  blouse,  who  was  passing  along  the 
pavement. 

^^Well,  she's  got  what  she  wanted,"  I  remarked 
indifferently,  ^^  so  she's  to  be  congratulated,  I  suppose. 
My  head  is  throbbing  as  if  it  would  break  open.  I'll 
go  in  and  lie  down  in  the  dusk,  before  supper." 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   STOOPS  345 

'^Do  the  flowers  bother  you?  Shall  I  take  them 
away?''  she  asked,  following  me  into  the  bedroom, 
and  closing  the  shutters. 

^'I  don't  notice  them.  This  confounded  headache 
is  the  only  thing  I  can  think  of.  It  hasn't  let  up  a 
single  minute." 

Bending  over  me,  she  laid  her  cheek  to  mine,  and 
stroked  the  hair  back  from  my  forehead  with  her  small, 
cool  hand,  which  reminded  me  of  the  touch  of  roses. 
Then  going  softly  out,  she  closed  the  door  after  her, 
while  I  turned  on  my  side,  and  lay,  half  asleep,  half 
awake,  in  the  deepening  twilight. 

From  the  garden,  through  the  open  blinds  of  the 
green  shutters,  floated  the  strong,  sweet  scent  of  the 
jessamine  blooming  on  the  columns  of  the  piazza;  and 
I  heard,  now  and  then,  as  if  from  a  great  distance,  the 
harsh,  frightened  cry  of  a  swallow  as  it  flew  out  from  its 
nest  under  the  roof.  A  sudden,  sharp  realisation  of 
imperative  duties  left  undone  awoke  in  my  mind ;  and 
I  felt  impelled,  as  if  by  some  outward  pressure,  to  rise 
and  go  back  again  down  the  long,  hot  hill  into  the 
city.  ^^ There's  something  important  I  meant  to  do, 
and  did  not,"  I  thought;  ^'as  soon  as  this  pain  stops, 
I  suppose  I  shall  remember  it,  and  why  it  is  so  urgent. 
If  I  can  only  sleep  for  a  few  minutes,  my  brain  will 
clear,  and  then  I  can  think  it  out,  and  everything  that 
is  so  confused  now  will  be  easy."  In  some  way,  I 
knew  that  this  neglected  duty  concerned  Sally  and  the 
child.  I  had  been  selfish  with  Sally  in  my  misery. 
When  I  awoke  with  a  clear  head,  I  would  go  to  her  and 
say  I  was  sorry. 

The  scent  of  the  jessamine  became  suddenly  so  in- 


346  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

tense  that  I  drew  the  coverlet  over  my  face  in  the  effort 
to  shut  it  out.  Then  turning  my  eyes  to  the  wall^  I  lay 
without  thinking  or  feeling,  while  my  consciousness 
slowly  drifted  outside  the  closed  room  and  the  penetrat- 
ing fragrance  of  the  garden  beyond.  Once  it  seemed 
to  me  that  somebody  came  in  a  dream  and  bent  over 
me,  stroking  my  forehead.  At  first  I  thought  it  was 
Sally,  until  the  roughness  of  the  hand  startled  me,  and 
opening  my  eyes,  I  saw  that  it  was  my  mother,  in  her 
faded  grey  calico,  with  the  perplexed  and  anxious  look 
in  her  eyes,  as  if  she,  too,  were  trying  to  remember 
some  duty  which  was  very  important,  and  which  she 
had  half  forgotten.  '  ^  Why,  I  thought  you  were  dead ! ' ' 
I  exclaimed  aloud,  and  the  sound  of  my  own  voice 
waked  me. 

It  was  broad  daylight  now;  the  shutters  were  open, 
and  the  breeze,  blowing  through  the  long  window, 
brought  the  scent  of  jessamine  distilled  in  the  sunshine 
beyond.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  slept  through  an 
eternity,  and  with  my  first  waking  thought,  there 
revived  the  same  pressure  of  responsibility,  the  same 
sense  of  duties,  unfulfilled  and  imperative,  with  which 
I  had  turned  to  the  wall  and  drawn  the  coverlet  over 
my  face.  ^^I  must  get  up,''  I  said  aloud;  and  then, 
as  I  lifted  my  hand,  I  saw  that  it  was  wasted  and 
shrunken,  and  that  the  blue  veins  showed  through  the 
flesh  as  through  delicate  porcelain.  Then,  ^^I've 
been  iU,"  I  thought,  and  ^^ Sally?  Sally?"  The 
effort  of  memory  was  too  great  for  me,  and  without 
moving  my  body,  I  lay  looking  toward  the  long  win- 
dow, w^here  Aunt  Euphronasia  sat,  in  the  square  of 
sunshine,  crooning  to  little  Benjamin,  while  she  rocked 


IN   WHICH    SALLY   STOOPS  347 

slowly  back  and  forth,  beating  time  ^ith  her  foot  to 
the  music. 

''  Oh,  we'll  ride  in  de  golden  cha'iot,  by  en  bye,  lil'  chillun, 
We'll  ride  in  de  golden  cha'iot,  by  en  bye. 

Oh,  we'se  all  gwine  home  ter  glory,  by  en  bye,  lil'  chillun, 
We'se  all  gwine  home  ter  glory  by  en  bye. 

Oh,  we'll  drink  outer  de  healin'  fountain,  by  en  bye,  lil' 

chillun. 
We'll  drink  outer  de  heahn'  fountain  by  en  bye." 

''Sally!"  I  called  aloud,  and  my  voice  sounded 
thin  and  distant  in  my  own  ears. 

There  was  the  sound  of  quick  steps,  the  door  opened 
and  shut,  and  Sally  came  in  and  leaned  over  me.  She 
wore  a  blue  gingham  apron  over  her  dress,  her  sleeves 
were  rolled  up,  and  her  hand,  when  it  touched  my  face, 
felt  warm  and  soft  as  if  it  had  been  plunged  into  hot 
soapsuds.  Then  my  eyes  fell  on  a  jagged  burn  on  her 
wrist. 

"What  is  that?''  I  asked,  pointing  to  it.  ''You've 
hurt  yourself." 

''Oh,  Ben,  my  dearest,  are  you  really  awake?" 

"What  is  that,  Sally?     You  have  hurt  yourself." 

"I  burned  my  hand  on  the  stove  —  it  is  nothing. 
Dearest,  are  you  better?  Wait.  Don't  speak  till 
you  take  your  nourishment." 

She  went  out,  returnmg  a  moment  later  with  a  glass 
of  milk  and  whiskey,  which  she  held  to  my  lips,  sit- 
ting on  the  bedside,  ^-ith  her  arm  slipped  under  my 
pillow. 

"How  long  have  I  been  HI,  SaUy?" 


848  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^Several  weeks.  You  became  conscious  and  then 
had  a  relapse.     Do  you  remember  ?'' 

^'No,  I  remember  nothing." 

^^Well,  don^t  talk.  Everything  is  all  right  —  and 
I^m  so  happy  to  have  you  alive  I  could  sing  the  Jubi- 
lee, as  Aunt  Euphronasia  says." 

^'Several  weeks  and  there  was  no  money !  Of  course, 
you  went  to  the  General,  Sally  —  but  I  forgot,  the 
General  is  away.  You  went  to  somebody,  though. 
Surely  you  got  help?" 

^^Oh,  I  managed,  Ben.  There's  nothing  to  worry 
about  now  that  you  are  better.  I  feel  that  there'll 
never  be  anything  to  worry  about  again." 

^^But  several  weeks,  Sally,  and  I  lying  like  a  log,  and 
the  General  away!    What  did  you  do?" 

"I  nursed  you  for  one  thing,  and  gave  you  medicine 
and  chicken  broth  and  milk  and  whiskey.  Now,  I 
shan't  talk  any  more  until  the  doctor  comes.  Lie 
quiet  and  try  to  sleep." 

But  the  jagged  burn  on  her  wrist  still  held  my  gaze, 
and  catching  her  hand  as  she  turned  away,  I  pressed 
my  lips  to  it  with  all  my  strength. 

*' Your  hand  feels  so  queer,  Sally.  It's  as  red  as  if  it 
had  been  scalded." 

^^I've  been  cooking  my  dinner,  and  you  see  I  eat  a 
great  deal.  There,  now,  that's  positively  my  last 
word." 

Bending  over,  she  kissed  me  hurriedly,  a  tear  fell  on 
my  face,  and  then  before  I  could  catch  the  fluttering 
hem  of  her  apron,  she  had  broken  from  me,  and  gone 
out,  closing  the  door  after  her.  For  a  minute  I  lay 
perfectly    motionless,    too    weak   for   thought.     Then 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   STOOPS  349 

opening  my  eyes  with  an  effort,  I  stared  straight  up  at 
the  white  ceiling,  against  which  a  green  June  beetle  was 
knocking  with  a  persistent,  buzzing  sound  that  seemed 
an  accompaniment  to  the  crooning  lullaby  of  Aunt 
Euphronasia. 

"  Oh,  we'se  all  gwine  home  ter  glory,  by  en  bye,  HP  chillun, 
We'se  all  gwine  home  ter  glory,  by  en  bye." 

''Will  he  break  his  wings  on  the  ceiling,  or  will  he  fly 
out  of  the  window?'^  I  thought  drowsily,  and  it  ap- 
peared to  me  suddenly  that  my  personal  troubles  — 
my  illness,  my  anxiety  for  Sally,  and  even  the  poverty 
that  must  have  pressed  upon  her  —  had  receded  to  an 
obscure  and  cloudy  distance,  in  which  they  became  less 
important  in  my  mind  than  the  problem  of  the  green 
June  beetle  knocking  against  the  ceiling.  ''Will  he 
break  his  wings  or  will  he  fly  out?''  I  asked,  -with  a 
dull  interest  in  the  event,  which  engrossed  my  thoughts 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  personal  matters.  "I  ought  to 
think  of  Sally  and  the  child,  but  I  can't.  My  head 
won't  let  me.  It  has  gone  wrong,  and  if  I  begin  to 
think  hard  thoughts  I'll  go  delirious  again.  There  is 
jessamine  blooming  somewhere.  Did  she  have  a  spray 
in  her  hair  when  she  bent  over  me  ?  Why  did  she  wear 
a  gingham  apron  at  a  ball  instead  of  pink  tarlatan? 
No,  that  was  not  the  problem  I  had  to  solve.  Will  he 
break  his  wings  or  will  he  fly  out?" 

^'  Oh,  we'll  fit  on  de  golden  slippers,  by  en  bye,  HI'  chillun, '^ 

crooned  Aunt  Euphronasia,  rocking  little  Benjamin 
in  the  square  of  sunlight. 


350  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

The  song  soothed  me  and  I  slept  for  a  minute.  Then 
starting  awake  in  the  cold  sweat  of  terror,  I  struggled 
wildly  after  the  problem  which  still  eluded  me. 

'^Has  he  flown  out?"  I  asked. 

^^Who,  Marse  Ben?"  enquired  the  old  negress, 
stopping  her  rocking  and  her  lullaby  at  the  same  in- 
stant. 

^^The  June  beetle.  I  thought  he'd  break  his  wings 
on  the  ceiling." 

^'Go  'way  f'om  hyer,  honey,  he  ain'  gmne  breck  'is 
wings.  Dar's  moughty  little  sense  inside  er  dem,  but 
dey  ain'  gwine  do  dat.  Is  yo'  wits  done  come 
back?" 

^^Not  quite.     I  feel  crazy.     Aunt  Euphronasia  ! " 

''Wat  you  atter,  Marse  Ben?" 

''How  did  Sally  manage?" 

"Ef'n  hit's  de  las'  wud  I  speak,  she's  done  man- 
aged jes  exactly  ez  ef'n  she  wuz  de  Lawd  A'moughty." 

"And  she  didn't  suffer?" 

"Who?  She?  Dar  ain'  none  un  us  suffer,  honey, 
we'se  all  been  livin'  on  de  ve'y  fat  er  de  Ian',  we  is. 
Dar's  been  roas'  pig  en  shoat  e'vy  blessed  day  fur 
dinner." 

She  had  talked  me  down,  and  I  turned  over  again 
and  lay  in  silence,  until  Sally  came  in  with  a  dose  of 
medicine  and  a  cup  of  broth. 

"Have  I  been  very  ill,  Sally?" 

"Very  ill.  It  was  the  long  mental  strain,  followed 
by  the  intense  heat.  At  one  time  we  feared  that  a 
blood  vessel  was  broken.  Now,  put  everything  out  of 
your  mind,  and  get  well." 

She  had  taken  off  her  gingham  apron,  and  was  wear- 


IX   WHICH    SALLY   STOOPS  351 

ing  one  of  her  last  summer's  dresses  of  flowered  or- 
gandie. I  remembered  that  I  had  always  liked  it 
because  it  had  blue  roses  over  it. 

'^How  can  I  get  well  when  I  know  that  you  have 
been  starving?'' 

^^But  we  haven't  been.  We've  had  everything  on 
earth  we  wanted." 

'^Then  thank  God  you  got  help.  Whom  did  you 
go  to?" 

Putting  the  empty  glass  aside,  she  began  feeding  me 
spoonfuls  of  broth,  ^dth  her  arm  under  my  pillow. 

''If  you  will  be  bad  and  insist  upon  kno\\dng  —  I 
didn't  go  to  anybody.  You  said  you  couldn't  bear 
being  helped,  you  know." 

''I  said  it  —  oh,  darling  —  but  I  didn't  think  of 
this!" 

''Well,  I  thought  of  it,  anyway,  and  I  wasn't  going  to 
do  while  you  were  ill  and  helpless  what  you  didn't 
want  me  to  do  when  you  were  well." 

"You  mean  you  told  nobody  all  these  weeks?" 

"Well,  I  told  one  or  two  people,  but  I  didn't  accept 
charity  from  them.  The  General  was  away,  you 
know,  but  some  people  from  the  office  came  over 
with  offers  of  help  —  and  I  told  them  we  needed 
nothing.  Dr.  Theophilus  was  too  far  away  to  treat 
you,  but  he  has  come  almost  every  day  with  a  pitcher 
of  Mrs.  Clay's  chicken  broth.  Oh,  we've  prospered, 
Ben,  there's  no  doubt  of  that,  we've  prospered!" 

"How  soon  may  I  get  up?" 

"Not  for  three  weeks,  and  it  will  be  another  three 
weeks  even  if  you're  good,  before  you  can  go  back  to 
the  office." 


352  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

A  sob  rose  in  my  throat;  but  I  bit  it  back  fiercely 
before  it  passed  my  lips. 

^^Oh;  Sally,  my  darling,  why  did  you  marry  me?" 

'^You  cruel  boy/'  she  returned  cheerfully,  as  she 
smoothed  my  pillows,  "  when  you  know  that  if  I 
hadn't  married  you  there  wouldn't  be  any  little  Benja- 
min in  the  world." 

After  this  the  slow  days  dragged  away,  while  I 
consumed  chicken  broth  and  milk  punches  with  a 
frantic  desire  to  get  back  my  strength.  Only  to  be 
on  my  feet  again,  and  able  to  lift  the  burden  from 
Sally's  shoulders !  Only  to  drive  that  tired  look  from 
her  eyes,  and  that  patient,  divine  smile  from  her  lips  ! 
I  watched  her  with  jealous  longing  while  I  lay  there, 
helpless  as  a  fallen  tree,  and  I  saw  that  she  grew 
daily  thinner,  that  the  soft  redness  never  left  her 
small,  childlike  hands,  that  three  fine,  nervous  wrinkles 
had  appeared  between  her  arched  eyebrows.  Some- 
thing  was  killing  her,  while  I,  the  man  who  had  sworn 
before  God  to  cherish  her,  was  but  an  additional  bur- 
den on  her  fragile  shoulders.  And  yet  how  I  loved 
her !  Never  had  she  seemed  to  me  more  lovely,  more 
desirable,  than  she  did  as  she  moved  about  my  bed 
in  her  gingham  apron,  with  the  anxious  smile  on  her 
lips,  and  the  delicate  furrows  deepening  between  her 
eyebrows. 

^^How  soon?  How  soon,  Sally?"  I  asked  almost 
hourly,  kissing  the  scar  on  her  wrist  when  she  beni 
over  me. 

'^Be  patient,  dear." 

''I  am  trying  to  be  patient  for  your  sake,  but  oh, 
it's  devilish  hard !" 


IN   WHICH    SALLY   STOOPS  353 

"I  know  it  is,  Ben.  Another  week,  and  you  will  be 
up.'' 

^^ Another  week,  and  this  killing  you!" 

^'It  isn't  killing  me.  If  it  were  killing  me,  do  you 
think  I  could  laugh?     And  you  hear  me  laugh?" 

''Yes,  I  hear  you  laugh,  and  it  breaks  my  heart 
as  I  lie  here.  If  I'm  ever  up,  Sally,  if  I'm  ever  well, 
I'll  make  you  go  to  bed  and  I  will  slave  over 
you." 

''There  are  many  things  I'd  enjoy  more,  dear. 
Going  to  bed  isn't  my  idea  of  happiness." 

"Then  you  shall  sit  on  a  cushion  and  eat  nothing 
but  strawberries  and  cream." 

"That  sounds  better.  Well,  there's  something  I've 
got  to  see  about,  so  I'll  leave  you  with  Aunt  Euphro- 
nasia  to  look  after  you.  The  doctor  says  you  may 
have  a  cup  of  tea  if  you're  good.  We'll  make  a  party 
together." 

An  hour  or  two  later,  when  the  afternoon  sunshine 
was  shut  out  by  the  green  blinds,  and  the  room  was 
filled  with  a  gentle  droning  sound  from  the  humming- 
birds at  the  jessamine,  she  drew  up  the  small  wicker 
tea  table  to  my  bedside,  and  we  made  the  party  with 
merriment.  Her  eyes  were  tired,  the  three  fine  ner- 
vous wrinkles  had  deepened  between  her  arched  eye- 
brows, and  the  soft  redness  I  had  objected  to,  covered 
her  hands ;  yet  that  spirit  of  gaiety,  which  had  seemed 
to  me  to  resemble  the  spirit  of  the  bird  singing  in  the  old 
grey  house,  stUl  showed  in  her  voice  and  her  smile. 
As  she  brewed  the  tea  in  the  little  brown  tea-pot 
and  poured  it  into  the  delicate  cups,  with  the  faded 
pattern  of  moss  rosebuds  around  the  brim,  I  won- 
2a 


354  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

dered,  half  in  a  dream,  from  what  inexhaustible 
source  she  drew  this  courage  which  faced  life,  not 
with  endurance,  but  with  blitheness.  Were  the  ghosts 
of  the  dead  Blands  and  Fairfaxes  from  whom  she 
had  sprung  fighting  over  again  their  ancient  battles  in 
their  descendant? 

^^This  is  a  nice  party,  isn^t  it?^'  she  asked,  when 
she  had  brought  the  hot  buttered  toast  from  the 
kitchen  and  cut  it  into  very  small  slices  on  my  plate ; 
^^the  tea  smells  deliciously.  I  paid  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter  for  a  pound  of  it  this  morning/^ 

^^If  I'm  ever  rich  again  you  shall  pay  a  million  and 
a  quarter,  if  you  want  to/' 

The  charming  archness  awoke  in  her  eyes,  while  she 
looked  at  me  over  the  brim  of  the  cup. 

^^ Isn't  this  just  as  nice  as  being  rich,  Ben?"  she 
asked;  ^^I  am  really,  you  know,  a  far  better  cook  than 
Aunt  Mehitable." 

'^All  the  same  I'd  rather  live  on  bread  and  water 
than  have  you  do  it,"  I  answered. 

She  lifted  her  hand,  pushing  the  heavy  hair  from 
her  forehead,  and  my  gaze  fell  on  the  jagged  scar  on 
her  wrist.  Then,  as  she  caught  my  glance,  her  arm 
dropped  suddenly  under  the  table,  and  she  pulled  her 
loose  muslin  sleeve  into  place. 

'^Does  the  burn  hurt  you,  Sally?" 

'^Not  now  —  it  is  quite  healed.  At  first  it  smarted 
a  little." 

'^Darling,  how  did  you  do  it?" 

''I've  forgotten.     On  the  stove,  I  think." 

I  fell  back  on  the  pillow,  too  faint,  in  spite  of  the 
tea  I  had  taken,  to  follow  a  thought  in  which  there 


IX   WHICH    SALLY   STOOPS  355 

was  so  sharp  and  so  incessant  a  pang.  Before  my 
eyes  the  little  table,  with  its  white  cloth  and  its 
fragile  china  service,  decorated  with  moss  rosebuds, 
appeared  to  dissolve  into  some  painful  dream  distance, 
in  which  the  sound  of  the  humming-birds  at  the  jessa- 
mine grew  gradually  louder. 

Six  days  longer  I  remained  in  bed,  too  weak  to  get 
into  my  clothes,  or  to  stand  on  my  feet,  but  at  the 
end  of  that  time  I  was  permitted  to  struggle  to  the 
square  of  sunlight  by  the  vrindow,  where  I  sat  for  an 
hour  v.-ith  the  warm  breeze  from  the  garden  blowing 
into  my  face.  For  the  first  day  or  two  I  was  unable 
to  rise  from  the  deep  chintz-covered  chair,  in  which 
Aunt  Euphronasia  and  Sail}"  had  placed  me;  but  one 
afternoon,  when  the  old  negress  had  returned  to  the 
kitchen,  and  Sally  had  gone  out  on  an  errand,  I  dis- 
obeyed their  orders  and  crawled  out  on  the  porch, 
where  the  scent  of  the  jessamine  seemed  a  part  of  the 
summer  sunshine.  The  next  day  I  ventured  as  far 
as  the  kitchen  steps,  and  found  Aunt  Euphronasia 
plucking  a  chicken  for  my  broth,  with  little  Benjamin 
asleep  in  his  carriage  at  her  side. 

^'Aunt  Euphronasia,  do  you  know  where  Sally  goes 
every  afternoon?'^    I  enquired. 

'^Hi!  Marse  Ben,  ain't  un  'oman  erbleeged  ter  teck 
her  time  off  de  same  ez  a  man?''  she  demanded 
indignantly.  ^'She  cyarn'  be  everlastin'ly  a-settin' 
plum  at  yo'  elbow." 

''You  know  perfectly  well  I'm  not  such  a  brute  as 
to  be  complaining,  mammy." 

''Mebbe  you  ain't,  honey,  but  hit  sounds  dat  ar 
way  ter  me." 


366  THE    ROMANCE   OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^If  I  could  only  make  sure  she'd  gone  to  walk, 
Td  be  jolly  glad.''  " 

^^Ef'n  you  ax  me/'  she  retorted  contemptuously, 
''she  ain't  de  sort,  suh,  dat's  gwineter  traipse  jes'  fur 
de  love  er  traipsin'." 

There  was  small  comfort,  I  saw,  to  be  had  from 
her,  so  turning  away,  while  she  resumed  her  pluck- 
ing, I  crawled  slowly  back  through  the  bedroom  into 
the  hall,  and  along  the  hall  to  the  front  door,  which 
stood  open.  Here  the  dust  of  the  street  rose  like 
s+eam  to  my  nostrils,  and  the  stone  steps  and  the 
brick  pavement  were  thickly  coated.  A  watering-cart 
turned  the  corner,  scattering  a  refreshing  spray,  and 
behind  it  came  a  troop  of  thirsty  dogs,  licking  greedily 
at  the  water  before  it  sank  into  the  dust.  The  foliage 
of  the  trees  was  scorched  to  a  livid  shade,  and  the  ends 
of  the  leaves  curled  upward  as  if  a  flame  had  blown 
by  them.  Down  the  street,  as  I  stood  there,  came 
the  old  familiar  cry  from  a  covered  wagon:  ''Water- 
million  !     Hyer's  yo'  water  million  fresh  f'om  de  vine  !'' 

Clinging  to  the  iron  railing,  which  burned  my  hand, 
I  descended  the  steps  with  trembling  limbs,  and 
stood  for  a  minute  in  the  patch  of  shade  at  the  bottom. 
A  negro,  seated  on  the  curbing,  was  drinking  the  juice 
from  a  melon  rind,  and  he  looked  up  at  me  with  roll- 
ing eyes,  his  gluttonous  red  lips  moving  in  rapture. 

"Dish  yer's  a  moughty  good  melon,  Marster,"  he 
eaid,  and  returned  to  his  feast. 

As  I  was  about  to  place  my  foot  on  the  bottom 
step  and  begin  the  difficult  ascent,  my  eyes,  raised 
to  our  sitting-room  window,  hung  spellbound  on  a 
black    and   white    sign    fastened    against    the    panes: 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   STOOPS  367 

"Fine   laundering.     Old  laces   a   specialty.     Desserts 

made  to  order." 

"Old  laces  a  specialty,"  I  repeated,  as  if  struck  by 
the  phrase.  Then,  as  my  strength  faUed  me,  I  sank 
on  the  stone  step  in  the  patch  of  shade,  and  buned 
my  face  in  my  hands. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

IN  WHICH  WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS 

I  WAS  still  sitting  there^  ^^dth  my  head  propped  in 
my  hands,  when  my  eyes,  which  had  seen  nothing 
before,  saw  Sally  coming  through  the  hot  dust  in  the 
street,  with  George  Bolingbroke,  carrying  a  bundle 
under  his  arm,  at  her  side.  As  she  neared  me  a  per- 
plexed and  anxious  look  —  the  look  I  had  seen  always 
on  the  face  of  my  mother  when  the  day^s  burden  was 
heavy  —  succeeded  the  smiling  brightness  with  which 
she  had  been  speaking  to  George. 

'^Why,  Ben!"  she  exclaimed,  quickening  her  steps, 
'^what  are  you  doing  out  here  in  this  terrible  heat?" 

'^I  got  down  and  couldn^t  get  back,"  I  answered. 

'^Well,  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself.  Here, 
George,  give  me  the  bundle  and  help  him  up." 

^^He  deserves  to  be  left  here,"  remarked  George, 
laughing  good-humouredly  as  he  grasped  my  arm, 
and  half  led,  half  dragged  me  up  the  steps  and  into 
the  house.  Then,  when  I  was  placed  in  the  deep 
chintz-covered  chair  by  the  window,  Sally  came  in 
with  a  milk  punch,  which  she  held  to  my  lips  while  I 
drank. 

^^ You're  really  very  foolish,  Ben." 

'^I  know  all,  Sally,"  I  replied,  sitting  up  and  push- 
ing the  glass  and  her  hand  avray,  ^^and  I'm  going  to 
get  up  and  go  back  to  work  to-morrow." 

S58 


IN  WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  359 

'^Then  drink  this,  please,  so  you  will  be  able  to  go. 
I  suppose  you  saw  the  sign/^  she  pursued  quietly, 
when  I  had  swallowed  the  punch;  ^^George  saw  it, 
too,  and  it  put  him  into  a  rage.'^ 

''What  has  George  got  to  do  with  it?'^  I  demanded 
with  a  pang  in  my  heart. 

''He  hasn't  anything,  of  course,  but  it  was  kind  of 
him  all  the  same  to  want  to  lend  me  his  money. 
You  see,  the  way  of  it  was  that  when  you  fell  ill, 
and  there  wasn't  a  penny  in  the  house,  I  remem- 
bered how  bitterly  you'd  hated  the  idea  of  taking 
help.'' 

I  caught  her  hand  to  my  lips.  ''I'd  beg,  borrow,  or 
steal  for  you,  darling." 

''You'd  neglected  to  tell  me  that,  so  I  didn't  know. 
What  I  did  was  to  sit  down  and  think  hard  for  an 
hour,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  when  you  were 
well  enough  to  be  left,  I  got  on  the  car  and  went  over 
to  see  several  women,  who,  I  knew,  were  so  rich  that 
they  had  plent}'  of  old  lace  and  embroidery.  I  told 
them  exactly  how  it  was  and,  of  course,  they  all 
wanted  to  give  me  money,  and  Jennie  Randolph  even 
sat  down  and  cried  when  I  wouldn't  take  it.  Then 
they  agreed  to  let  me  launder  all  their  fine  lace  and 
embroidered  blouses,  and  I've  made  desserts  and  cakes 
for  some  of  them  and  —  and  — " 

"Don't  go  on,  Sally,  I  can't  stand  it.  I'm  a  crack- 
brained  fool  and  I'm  going  to  cry." 

"Of  course,  the  worst  part  was  having  to  leave 
you,  but  when  George  found  out  about  it,  he  insist€d 
upon  fetching  and  carrying  my  bundles." 

"George!"    I  exclaimed  sharply,   and   a  spasm  of 


360  THE   ROMANCE  OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

pain,  like  the  entrance  of  poison  into  an  unhealed 
wound,  contracted  my  heart.  ''Was  that  confounded 
package  under  his  arm,''  I  questioned,  almost  angrily, 
''some  of  the  stuff?'' 

"That  was  a  blouse  of  Maggie  Tyler's.  He  is  going 
to  take  it  back  to  her  on  Friday.  There,  now,  stay 
quiet,  while  I  run  and  speak  to  him.  He  is  wait- 
ing for  me  in  the  kitchen." 

She  went  out,  as  if  it  were  the  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world  for  her  to  take  in  washing  and  for  George 
to  deliver  it,  while,  opening  the  long  green  shutters,  I 
sat  staring,  beyond  the  humming-birds  and  the  white 
columns,  to  the  shimmering  haze  that  hung  over  the 
old  tea-roses  and  the  dwindled  box  in  the  garden. 
Here  the  heat,  though  it  was  still  visible  to  the  eyes, 
was  softened  and  made  fragrant  by  the  greenness  of 
the  trees  and  the  grass  and  by  the  perfume  of  the 
jessamine  and  the  old  tea-roses,  dropping  their  faintly 
coloured  leaves  in  the  sunshine.  From  time  to  time 
the  sounds  of  the  city,  grown  melancholy  and  discord- 
ant, like  the  sounds  that  one  hears  in  fever,  reached 
me  across  the  shimmering  vagueness  of  the  garden. 

And  then  as  I  sat  there,  with  folded  hands,  there 
came  to  me,  out  of  some  place,  so  remote  that  it 
seemed  a  thousand  miles  away  from  the  sunny  still- 
ness, and  yet  so  near  that  I  knew  it  existed  only 
within  my  soul,  a  sense  of  failure,  of  helplessness,  of 
humiliation.  A  hundred  casual  memories  thronged 
through  my  mind,  and  all  these  memories,  gathering 
significance  from  my  imagination,  plunged  me  deeper 
into  the  bitter  despondency  which  had  closed  over 
my  head.     I  saw  the  General,  with    his   little,   alert 


IN   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  361 

bloodshot  eyeS;  like  the  eyes  of  an  intelligent  bull- 
dog, with  that  look  of  stubbornness,  of  tenacity,  per- 
sisting beneath  the  sly  humour  that  gleamed  in  his 
face,  as  if  he  were  thinking  always  somewhere  far 
back  in  his  brain,  ^^I'll  hang  on  to  the  death,  I'll 
hang  on  to  the  death/'  His  figure,  which,  because  of 
that  legendary  glamour  I  had  seen  surrounding  it  in 
childhood,  still  personified  shining  success  in  my  eyes, 
appeared  to  add  a  certain  horror  to  this  sense  of  help- 
lessness, of  failure,  that  dragged  me  under.  Deep 
down  within  me,  down  below  my  love  for  Sally  or  for 
the  child,  something  older  than  any  emotion,  older 
than  any  instinct  except  the  instinct  of  battle, 
awakened  and  passed  from  passiveness  into  violence. 
^^Let  me  but  start  again  in  the  race,''  said  this  some- 
thing, ^4et  me  but  stand  once  more  on  my  feet.'' 
The  despondency,  which  had  been  at  first  formless 
and  vague  as  mere  darkness,  leaped  suddenly  into  a 
tangible  shape,  and  I  felt  that  the  oppressive  weight 
of  the  debt  on  my  shoulders  was  the  weight,  not  of 
thought,  but  of  metal.  Until  that  was  lifted  —  until 
I  had  struggled  free  —  I  should  be  crippled,  I  told 
myself,  not  onl}^  in  ambition,  but  in  body. 

From  the  detached  kitchen,  at  the  end  of  the  short 
brick  walk,  overgrown  with  wild  violets,  that  led  to  it, 
the  sound  of  George's  laugh  fell  on  my  ears.  Rising 
to  my  feet  with  an  effort,  I  stood  listening,  without 
thought,  to  the  sound,  which  seemed  to  grow  vacant 
and  sad  as  it  floated  to  me  in  the  warm  air  over  the 
sunken  bricks.  Then  passing  through  the  long  win- 
dow, I  descended  the  steps  slowly,  and  stopped  in  the 
shadow  of  a  pink  crape  m>Ttle  that  grew  near  the 


362  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN  MAN 

kitchen  doorway.  Again  the  merriment  came  to  me, 
Sally's  laughter  mingling  this  time  with  George's. 

'^No;  that  will  never  do.  This  is  the  way/'  she 
said,  in  her  sparkling  voice,  which  reminded  me  al- 
ways of  running  water. 

^' Sally!"  I  called,  and  moving  nearer,  I  paused  at 
the  kitchen  step,  while  she  came  quickly  forward, 
with  some  white,  filmy  stuff  she  had  just  rinsed  in 
the  tub  still  in  her  hands. 

^^Why,  here's  Ben!"  she  exclaimed.  ^^You  bad 
boy,  when  I  told  you  positively  not  to  get  up  out  of 
that  chair!" 

A  gingham  apron  was  pinned  over  her  waist  and 
bosom,  her  sleeves  were  rolled  back,  and  I  saw  the 
redness  from  the  hot  soapsuds  rising  from  her  hands 
to  her  elbows. 

^^For  God's  sake,  Sally,  what  are  you  doing?"  I 
demanded,  and  reaching  out,  as  I  swayed  slightly,  I 
caught  the  lintel  of  the  door  for  support. 

''I'm  washing  and  George  is  splitting  kindling 
wood,"  she  replied  cheerfully,  shaking  out  the  white, 
filmy  stuff  with  an  upward  movement  of  her  bare 
arms;  ''the  boy  who  splits  the  wood  never  came  —  I 
think  he  ate  too  many  currants  yesterday  —  and  if 
George  hadn't  offered  his  services  as  man  of  all  work, 
I  dread  to  think  what  you  and  Aunt  Euphronasia 
would  have  eaten  for  supper." 

"It's  first-rate  work  for  the  muscles,  Ben,"  re- 
marked George,  flinging  an  armful  of  wood  on  the 
brick  floor,  and  kneeling  beside  the  stove  to  kindle 
a  fire  in  the  old  ashes.  "I  haven't  a  doubt  but  it's 
better  for  the  back  and  arms  than  horseback  riding. 


IX   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  363 

All  the  same/"  he  added;  poking  vigorously  at  the 
smouldering  embers,  ^'I'm  going  to  wallop  that  boy 
as  soon  as  I've  got  this  fire  started/^ 

''You  won't  have  time  to  do  that  until  you've 
delivered  the  day's  washing/'  rejoined  Sally,  with 
merriment. 

"Yes,  I  shall.  I'll  stop  on  my  way  —  that  boy 
comes  first/'  returned  George  T\dth  a  grim,  if  humor- 
ous, determination. 

This  humour,  this  lightness,  and  above  all  this 
gallantry,  which  was  so  much  a  part  of  the  older 
civilisation  to  which  they  belonged,  wrought  upon  my 
disordered  nerves  with  a  feeling  of  anger.  Here,  at 
last,  I  had  run  against  that  ''something  else"  of 
the  Elands',  apart  from  wealth,  apart  from  position, 
apart  even  from  blood,  of  which  the  General  had 
spoken.  Miss  Mitty  might  go  in  rags  and  do  her  own 
cooking,  he  had  said,  but  as  long  as  she  possessed 
this  "something  else,"  that  supported  her,  she  would 
preserve  to  the  end,  in  defiance  of  circumstances, 
her  terrible  importance. 

"You  know  I  don't  care  a  bit  what  I  eat,  Sally!" 
I  blurted  out,  in  a  temper. 

"WeU,  you  may  not,  dear,  but  George  and  I  do," 
she  rejoined,  pinning  the  white  stuff  on  a  clothes-line 
she  had  stretched  between  the  door  and  the  ^^dndow, 
"we  are  both  interested,  you  see,  in  getting  you  back 
to  work.  There's  the  door-bell,  George.  You  may 
wash  your  hands  at  the  sink  and  answer  it.  If  it's 
the  butter,  bring  it  to  me,  and  if  it's  a  caUer,  let  him 
wait,  while  I  turn  down  my  sleeves." 

Rising  from  his  knees,  George  washed  his  hands  at 


364  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

the  sink,  and  went  out  along  the  brick  walk  to  the 
house,  while  I  stood  in  the  doorway,  under  the  shadow 
of  the  pink  crape  myrtle,  and  made  a  vow  in  my  heart. 

^^ Sally,"  I  said  at  last  in  the  agony  of  desperation, 
^'yoii  ought  to  have  married  George. '^ 

With  her  arms  still  upraised  to  the  clothes-line,  she 
looked  round  at  me  over  her  shoulder. 

'^He  is  useful  in  an  emergency,"  she  admitted; 
'^but,  after  all,  the  emergency  isn't  the  man,  you 
know." 

I  was  about  to  press  the  point  home  to  conscience, 
when  George,  returning  along  the  walk,  announced 
with  the  mock  solemnity  of  a  footman  in  livery, 
that  the  callers  were  Dr.  Theophilus  and  the  General, 
who  awaited  us  in  the  sitting-room. 

^'There's  no  hurry,  Sally,"  he  added;  ^Hhey  started 
over  to  condole  with  you,  I  imagine,  but  they've 
both  become  so  absorbed  in  discussing  this  neigh- 
bourhood as  it  was  fifty  years  ago,  that  I  honestly 
believe  theyVe  entirely  forgotten  that  you  live  here." 

^'Well,  we'll  have  to  remind  them,"  said  Sally,  with 
a  laugh;  and  when  she  had  rolled  down  her  sleeves 
and  tidied  her  hair  before  the  cracked  mirror  on  the 
wall,  we  went  back  to  the  house,  where  we  found  the 
two  old  men  engaged  in  a  violent  controversy  over 
the  departed  inhabitants  of  Church  Hill. 

^'I  tell  you,  Theophilus,  it  wasn't  Robert  Carring- 
ton,  but  his  brother  Bushrod  that  lived  in  that  house  !" 
exclaimed  the  General,  as  we  entered;  and  he  con- 
cluded —  while  he  shook  hands  with  us,  in  the  tone  of 
one  who  forever  clinches  an  argument,  ^^I  can  take 
you  this  minute  straight  over  there  to  his  grave  in 


IN   WHICH   WE   RECER^E   VISITORS  365 

Saint  John's  Churchyard.  How  are  you,  Ben,  glad 
to  see  you  up,"  he  observed  in  an  absent-minded 
manner.  ''Have  you  got  a  palm-leaf  fan  around, 
Sally?  I  can't  get  through  these  sweltering  after- 
noons without  a  fan.  \Yhat  do  you  think  Theophilus 
is  arguing  about  now?  He  is  trying  to  prove  to  me 
that  it  was  Robert  Camngton,  not  Bushrod,  who 
Hved  in  that  big  house  at  the  top  of  the  hill.  Why, 
I  tell  you  I  knew  Bushrod  Camngton  as  well  as  I  did 
my  own  brother,  sir." 

He  sat  far  back  in  his  chair,  pursing  his  full  red 
lips  angrily,  like  a  whimpering  child,  and  fanning  him- 
self with  short,  excited  movements  of  the  palm-leaf 
fan.  His  determined,  mottled  face  was  covered 
thickly  ^ith  fine  drops  of  perspiration. 

^'I  knew  Robert  very  intimately,"  remarked  the 
doctor,  in  a  peaceable  voice.  ''He  married  Matty 
Price,  and  I  was  the  best  man  at  his  wedding.  They 
lived  unhappily,  I  believe,  but  he  told  me  on  his 
death-bed  —  I  attended  him  in  his  last  illness  —  that 
he  would  do  it  over  again  if  he  had  to  re-Hve  his  life. 
"T  never  had  a  dull  minute  after  I  married  her,  doctor,' 
he  said,  '  I  Hved  with  her  for  forty  years  and  I  never 
knew  what  was  coming  next  till  she  died.'" 

"Robert  was  a  fool,"  commented  the  General, 
brusquely,  "a  long  white-livered,  studious  fellow  that 
dragged  around  at  his  mfe's  apron  strings.  Couldn't 
hold  a  candle  to  his  brother  Bushrod.  When  I  was  a 
boy,  Bushrod  Carrington  —  he  was  nearer  my  father's 
age  than  mine  —  was  the  greatest  dandy  and  duellist 
in  the  state.  Got  all  his  clothes  in  Paris,  and  I  can 
see  him  now,  as  plainly  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  when 


366  THE   KOMAXCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

he  used  to  come  to  church  in  a  peachblow  brocade 
waisteoat  of  a  foreign  fashion,  and  his  hair  shining 
with  pomatum.  Yes,  he  was  a  great  duellist  —  that 
was  the  age  of  duels.  Shot  a  man  the  first  year  he 
came  back  from  France,  didn't  he?'' 

^^A  sad  scamp,  but  a  good  husband,"  remarked  the 
doctor,  ignoring  the  incident  of  the  duel.  ^^I  remem- 
ber when  his  first  child  was  born,  he  was  on  his  knees 
praying  the  whole  time,  and  then  when  it  was  over 
he  went  out  and  got  as  drunk  as  a  lord.  ^Where's 
Bushrod?'  were  the  first  words  his  wife  spoke,  and 
when  some  fool  answered  her,  ^Bushrod's  drunk, 
Bessy,'  she  replied,  like  an  angel,  ^Poor  fellow,  I 
know  he  needs  it.'  They  were  a  most  devoted  couple, 
I  always  heard.  Who  was  she,  George?  It's  gone 
out  of  my  mind.     Was  she  Bessy  Randolph?" 

^^No,  Bessy  Randolph  was  his  first  flame,  and  when 
she  threw  him  over  for  Ned  Peyton,  he  married  Bessy 
Tucker.  They  used  to  say  that  when  he  couldn't  get 
one  Bessy,  he  took  the  other.  Yes,  he  made  a  devoted 
husband,  never  a  wild  oat  to  sow  after  his  marriage. 
I  remember  when  I  called  on  him  once,  when  he  was 
living  in  that  big  house  there  on  top  of  the  hill — " 

'^I  think  you're  wrong  about  that,  George.  I  am 
sure  it  was  Robert  who  lived  there.  When  I  attended 
him  in  his  last  illness — " 

^^I  reckon  I  know  where  Bushrod  Carrington  lived, 
Theophilus.  I've  been  there  often  enough.  The  house 
you're  talking  about  is  over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
hill,  and  was  built  by  Robert." 

^^Well,  I'm  perfectly  positive,  George,  that  when  I 
attended  Robert  in  his  last  illness — " 


IX   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  367 

^^His  last  illness  be  hanged!  I  tell  you  what,  The- 
ophilus,  you're  getting  entirely  too  opinionated  for  a 
man  of  your  j^ears.  If  it  grows  on  you,  you'll  be  hav- 
ing an  attack  of  apoplexy  next.  Have  you  got  a 
glass  of  iced  water  you  can  give  Theophilus,  Sally?" 

^'I'll  get  it/'  said  young  George,  as  Sally  rose,  and 
when  he  had  gone  out  in  response  to  her  nod,  the 
General,  cooling  a  little,  glanced  with  a  sly  wink 
from  Sally  to  me.  '^You  put  me  in  mind  of  Bush- 
rod's  first  flame,  Bessy  Randolph,  my  dear,"  he  ob- 
served; ^^she  was  a  great  belle  and  beauty  and  half 
the  men  in  Virginia  proposed  to  her,  they  used  to  say, 
before  she  married  Xed  Peyton.  ^Xo,  I  can't  accept 
you  for  a  husband,'  the  minx  would  reply,  ^but  I 
think  you  will  do  very  well  indeed  as  a  hanger-on.' 
It  looks  as  if  you'd  got  George  for  a  hanger-on,  eh?" 

^^At  present  she's  got  him  in  place  of  a  boy-of-all- 
jobs,"  I  observed  lightly,  though  a  fierce  misery  worked 
in  my  mind. 

^^WeU,  she  can't  do  better,"  said  the  doctor,  as  they 
prepared  to  leave.  ^^Let  me  hear  how  you  are,  Ben. 
Don't  eat  too  much  till  you  get  back  your  strength, 
and  be  sure  to  take  your  egg-nog  three  times  a  day. 
Come  along,  George,  and  we'll  look  up  Robert's  and 
Bushrod's  graves  in  the  churchyard.  You'd  better 
bring  the  palm-leaf  fan,  you'll  probably  need  it." 

They  descended  the  curving  st-eps  leisurely,  the 
General  clinging  to  the  raihng  on  one  side,  and  sup- 
ported by  George  on  the  other.  Then,  at  last,  after 
many  protestations  of  sympathy,  and  not  a  few  anec- 
dotes forgotten  until  the  instant  of  departure  revived 
the   memory,   the  old  grey  horse,   deciding  suddenly 


368  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

that  it  was  time  for  oats  and  the  cool  stable,  started 
of  his  own  accord  up  the  street  toward  the  church- 
yard. As  the  buggy  passed  out  of  sight,  with  the 
palm-leaf  fan  waving  frantically  when  it  turned  the 
corner,  George  came  up  the  steps  again,  and  going 
indoors,  brought  out  the  little  bundle  of  lace  that  he 
was  to  deliver  to  its  owner  on  his  way  home. 

^^Keep  up  your  pluck,  Ben,"  he  said  cheerfully; 
and  turning  away,  he  looked  at  Sally  with  a  long, 
thoughtful  gaze  as  he  held  out  his  hand. 

''Now,  I'm  going  to  wallop  that  boy,''  he  remarked, 
after  a  minute.  ''Is  there  anything  else?  I'll  be 
over  to-morrow  as  soon  as  I  can  get  off  from  the 
office." 

"Nothing  else,"  she  replied;  then,  as  he  was  moving 
away,  she  leaned  forward,  with  that  bloom  and  soft- 
ness in  her  look  which  always  came  to  her  in  moments 
when  she  was  deeply  stirred.  "George!"  she  called, 
in  a  low  voice,  "George  !" 

He  stopped  and  came  back,  meeting  her  vivid  face 
with  eyes  that  grew  suddenly  dark  and  gentle. 

"It's  just  to  say  that  I  don't  know  what  in  the 
world  I  should  have  done  without  you,"  she  said. 

Again  he  turned  from  her,  and  this  time  he  went 
quickly,  without  looking  back,  along  the  dusty  street 
in  the  direction  of  the  car  line  beyond  the  corner. 

"You've  been  up  too  long,  Ben,  and  you're  as 
white  as  a  sheet,"  said  Sally,  putting  her  hand  on  my 
arm.  "Come,  now,  and  lie  down  again  while  Aunt 
Euphronasia  is  cooking  supper.  I  must  iron  Maggie 
Tyler's  blouse  as  soon  as  it  is  dry." 

The   mention   of  Maggie  Tyler's  blouse   was   all  I 


IX   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  369 

needed  to  precipitate  me  into  the  abyss  above  which 
I  had  stood.  Too  miserable  to  offer  useless  comment 
upon  so  obvious  a  tragedy,  I  followed  her  in  silence 
back  to  the  bedroom,  where  she  placed  me  on  the 
bed  and  flung  a  soft,  thin  coverlet  over  my  prostrate 
body.  She  was  still  standing  beside  me,  when  Aunt 
Euphronasia  hobbled  excitedly  into  the  room,  and 
looking  across  the  threshold,  I  discerned  a  tall,  slender 
figure,  shrouded  heavily  in  black,  hovering  in  the  dim 
hall  beyond. 

^^Hi!  hi!  honey,  hyer's  Miss  Mitty  done  come  ter 
see  you  !"  exclaimed  Aunt  Euphronasia,  in  a  burst  of 
ecstasy. 

Sally  turned  with  a  cry,  and  the  next  instant  she 
was  clasped  in  Miss  Mitty's  arms,  with  her  head  hidden 
in  the  rustling  crape  on  the  old  lady's  shoulder. 

''I've  just  heard  that  you  were  in  trouble,  and  that 
your  husband  was  ill,"  said  Miss  Mitty,  when  she  had 
seated  herself  in  the  chair  by  the  window;  ''I  came 
over  at  once,  though  I  hadn't  left  the  house  for  a 
year  except  to  go  out  to  Hollywood." 

''It  was  so  good  of  you.  Aunt  Mitty,  so  good  of 
you,"  replied  Sally,  caressing  her  hand. 

"If  I'd  only  known  sooner,  I  should  have  come. 
You  are  looking  very  badly,  my  child." 

"Ben  will  be  well  quickly  now,  and  then  I  can 
rest." 

At  this  she  turned  toward  me,  and  enquired  in  a 
gentle,  reserved  way  about  my  illness,  the  nature  of 
the  fever,  and  the  pain  from  which  I  had  suffered. 

"I  hope  you  had  the  proper  food,  Ben,"  she  said, 
caUing  me  for  the  first  time  by  my  name ;  "I  am  sorry 
2b 


370  THE    ROMANCE    OF    A   PLAIX    MAN 

that  I  could  not  supply  you  with  my  chicken  jelly. 
Dr.  Theophilus  tells  me  he  considers  it  superior  to  any 
he  has  ever  tried  —  even  to  Mrs.  Clay's.'' 

^^  Comfort  Sally,  Miss  Mitty,  and  it  will  do  me  more 
good  than  chicken  jelly." 

For  a  minute  she  sat  looking  at  me  kindly  in  silence. 
Then,  as  little  Benjamin  was  brought,  she  took  him 
upon  her  lap,  and  remarked  that  he  was  a  beautiful 
baby,  and  that  she  already  discerned  in  him  the  look 
of  her  Uncle  Theodoric  Fairfax. 

^^I  should  like  you  to  come  to  my  house  as  soon  as 
you  are  able  to  move,"  she  said  presently,  as  she  rose 
to  go,  and  paused  for  a  minute  to  bend  over  and  kiss 
little  Benjamin.  ^^You  will  be  more  comfortable 
there,  though  the  air  is,  perhaps,  fresher  over  here." 

I  thanked  her  with  tears  in  my  eyes,  and  a  resolve 
in  my  mind  that  at  least  Sally  and  the  baby  should 
accept  the  offer. 

^' There  is  a  basket  of  old  port  in  the  sitting-room; 
I  thought  it  might  help  to  strengthen  you,"  were  her 
last  words  as  she  passed  out,  with  Sally  clinging  to 
her  arm,  and  the  crape  veil  she  still  wore  for  Miss 
Matoaca  rustling  as  she  moved. 

^To'  Miss  Mitty  has  done  breck  so  I  'ouldn't  hev 
knowxd  her  f  om  de  daid,"  observed  Aunt  Euphro- 
nasia,  when  the  front  door  had  closed  and  the  sound 
of  rapidly  rolling  w^heels  had  passed  down  the  street. 

All  night  Sally  and  I  talked  of  her,  she  resisting  and 
I  entreating  that  she  should  go  to  her  old  home  for 
the  rest  of  the  summer. 

^'How  can  I  leave  you,  Ben?  How  can  you  possi- 
bly do  without  me?" 


IN   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  371 

^' Don't  bother  about  me.  Ill  manage  to  scrape 
along,  somehow.  There  are  two  things  that  are  kill- 
ing me,  Sally  —  the  fact  of  owing  money  that  I  can't 
pay,  and  the  thought  of  your  toiling  like  a  slave  over 
my  comfort.'' 

^^I'U  go^  then,  if  you  will  come  ^dth  me." 

^^  You  know  I  can't  come  with  you.  She  only  asked 
me,  you  must  realise,  out  of  pity." 

'^Well,  I  shan't  go  a  step  without  you,"  she  said 
decisively  at  last,  ^^for  I  don't  see  how  on  earth  you 
would  live  through  the  summer  if  I  did." 

^^I  don't  see  either,"  I  admitted  honestly,  looking 
at  her,  as  she  stood  in  the  frame  of  the  long  window, 
the  ruffles  of  her  muslin  dressing-gown  blowing  gently 
in  the  breeze  which  had  sprung  up  in  the  garden. 
Beyond  her  there  was  a  pale  dimness,  and  the  fresh, 
moist  smell  of  the  dew  on  the  grass. 

What  she  had  said  was  the  truth.  How  could  I 
have  lived  through  the  summer  if  she  had  left  me? 
Sinc€  the  night  after  my  failure,  when  we  had  come, 
for  the  first  time,  face  to  face  with  each  other,  I  had 
leaned  on  her  with  all  the  weight  of  my  crippled 
strength;  and  this  weight,  instead  of  crushing  her  to 
the  earth,  appeared  to  add  vigour  and  buoyancy  to 
her  slender  figure.  Long  afterwards,  when  my  know- 
ledge of  her  had  come  at  last,  not  through  love,  but 
through  bitterness,  I  wondered  why  I  had  not  under- 
stood on  that  night,  while  I  lay  there  watching  her 
pale  outline  framed  by  the  window.  Love,  not  meat 
and  drink,  was  her  nourishment,  and  without  love, 
though  I  were  to  surround  her  with  all  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  she  would  still  be  famished.     That  she  was 


372  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

strong,  I  had  already  learned.  What  I  was  still  t-o 
discover  was  that  this  strength  lay  less  in  character 
than  in  emotion.  Her  very  endurance  —  her  power 
of  sustained  sympathy,  of  sacrifice  —  had  its  birth  in 
some  strangely  idealised  quality  of  passion  —  as 
though  even  suffering  or  duty  was  enkindled  by 
this  warm,  clear  flame  that  burned  always  within 
her. 

As  the  light  broke,  we  were  awakened,  after  a  few 
hours '  restless  sleep,  by  a  sharp  ring  at  the  bell ;  and 
when  she  had  slipped  into  her  wrapper  and  answered 
it,  she  came  back  very  slowly,  holding  an  open  note 
in  her  hands. 

^^Oh,  poor  Aunt  Mitty,  poor  Aunt  Mitty.  She  died 
all  alone  in  her  house  last  night,  and  the  servants 
found  her  this  morning.'' 

''Well,  the  last  thing  she  did  was  a  kindness,''  I 
said  gently. 

''I'm  glad  of  that,  glad  she  came  to  see  me,  but, 
Ben,  I  can't  help  belie\dng  that  it  killed  her.  She 
had  Aunt  Matoaca's  heart  trouble,  and  the  strain  was 
too  much."  Then,  as  I  held  out  my  arms,  she  clung 
to  me,  weeping.  "Never  leave  me  alone,  Ben  —  what- 
ever happens,  never,  never  leave  me  alone!" 

A  few  days  later,  when  Miss  Mitty's  will  was  opened, 
it  was  found  that  she  had  left  to  Sally  her  little  sav- 
ings of  the  last  few  years,  which  amounted  to  ten 
thousand  dollars.  The  house,  with  her  income,  passed 
from  her  to  the  hospital  endowed  by  Edmond  Bland 
in  a  fit  of  rage  with  his  youngest  daughter;  and  the 
old  lady's  canary  and  the  cheque,  which  fluttered  some 


IN   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  373 

weeks  later  from  the  lawyer^s  letter,  were  the  only 
possessions  of  hers  that  reached  her  niece. 

'^She  left  the  miniature  of  me  painted  when  I  was 
a  child  to  George/'  said  Sally,  with  the  cheque  in  her 
hand;  ^^ George  was  very  good  to  her  at  the  end.  Did 
you  ever  notice  my  miniature,  framed  in  pearls,  that 
she  wore  sometimes,  in  place  of  grandmama's,  at  her 
throat?" 

I  had  not  noticed  it,  and  the  fact  that  I  had  never 
seen  it,  and  was  perfectly  unaware  whether  or  not  it 
resembled  Sally,  seemed  in  some  curious  way  to  in- 
crease, rather  than  to  diminish,  the  Jealous  pain  at 
my  heart.  Why  should  George  have  been  given  this 
trifle,  which  was  associated  with  Sally,  and  which  I 
had  never  seen? 

She  leaned  forward  and  the  cheque  fluttered  into 
my  plate. 

'^Take  the  money,  Ben,  and  do  what  you  think 
best  with  it,''  she  added. 

^^It  belongs  to  you.  Wouldn't  you  rather  keep  it 
in  bank  as  a  nest-egg?" 

'^No,  take  it.  I  had  everything  of  yours  as  long  as 
you  had  anything." 

^^Then  it  goes  into  bank  for  you  all  the  same,"  I 
replied,  as  I  slipped  the  paper  into  my  pocket. 

An  hour  later,  as  I  passed  in  the  car  down  the  long 
hill,  I  told  myself  that  I  would  place  the  money  to 
Sally's  account,  in  order  that  she  might  draw  on  it 
until  I  had  made  good  the  strain  of  my  illness.  My 
first  intention  had  been  to  go  into  the  bank  on  my 
way  to  the  office;  but  glancing  at  my  watch  as  I  left 
the  car,  I  found  that  it  was  already  after  nine  o'clock, 


374  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

and  so  returning  the  cheque  to  my  pocket,  I  crossed 
the  street,  where  I  found  the  devil  of  temptation 
awaiting  me  in  the  person  of  Sam  Brackett. 

^^I  say,  Ben,  if  you  had  a  httle  cash,  here's  an  op- 
portunity to  make  your  fortune  rise,''  he  remarked; 
^I've  just  given  George  a  tip  and  he's  going 
m." 

^^ You'd  better  keep  out  of  it,  Ben,"  said  George, 
wheehng  round  suddenly  after  he  had  nodded  and 
turned  aw^ay.  ^^It's  copper,  and  you  know  if  there's 
a  thing  on  earth  that  can  begin  to  monkey  when  you 
don't  expect  it  to,  it's  the  copper  trade." 

^^ Bonanza  copper  mining  stock  is  selling  at  zero 
again,"  commented  Sam  imperturbably,  ^'and  if  it 
doesn't  go  up  like  a  shot,  then  I'm  a  deader." 

Whether  his  future  was  to  be  that  of  a  deader  or 
not  concerned  me  little;  but  w^hile  I  stood  there  on 
the  crowded  pavement,  vdth  my  eyes  on  the  sky, 
I  had  a  sudden  sensation,  as  if  the  burden  of  debt  — 
which  was  the  burden,  not  of  thought,  but  of  metal 
—  had  been  removed  from  my  shoulders.  My  first  for- 
tune had  been  made  in  copper,  —  why  not  repeat  it  ? 
That  one  minute's  sense  of  release,  of  freedom,  had 
gone  like  wine  to  my  head.  I  saw  stretching  away 
from  me  the  dull  years  I  must  spend  in  chains,  but  I 
saw,  also,  in  the  blessed  vision  which  Sam  Brackett 
had  called  up,  the  single  means  of  escape. 

^^What  does  the  General  think  of  it,  George?"  I 
enquired. 

^^He's  putting  in  money,  I  believe,  moderately  as 
usual,"  replied  George,  with  a  worried  look  on  his 
face;  ^^but  I  tell  you  frankly,  Ben,  whether  it's  a  good 


IN   WHICH   WE   RECEIVE   VISITORS  375 

thing  or  not,  if  that's  Miss  Mitty's  legacy,  you  oughtn't 
to  speculate  with  it.     Sally  might  need  it." 

^' Sally  needs  a  thousand  times  more/'  I  returned, 
not  without  irritation,  '^and  I  shall  get  it  for  her  in  the 
way  I  can."  Then  I  held  out  my  hand.  ^'You're  a 
first-rate  chap,  George,"  I  added,  '^but  just  think  what 
it  would  mean  to  Sally  if  I  could  get  out  of  debt  at  a 
jump." 

^^I  dare  say,"  he  responded,  ^'but  I'm  not  sure  that 
putting  your  last  ten  thousand  dollars  in  the  Bonanza 
copper  mining  stock  is  a  rational  way  of  doing  it." 

''Such  things  aren't  done  in  a  rational  way.  The 
secret  of  successful  speculating  is  to  be  willing  to  dare 
everything  for  something.  Sam's  got  faith  in  the 
Bonanza,  and  he  knows  a  hundred  times  as  much  about 
it  as  you  or  I." 

''If  it  doesn't  rise,"  said  Sam  emphatically,  "then 
I'm  a  deader." 

I  still  saw  the  dull  years  stretching  ahead,  and  I 
still  felt  the  tangible  weight  on  my  shoulders  of  the  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  I  owed.  The  old  prostrate 
instinct  of  the  speculator,  which  is  but  the  gambler's 
instinct  in  better  clothes,  lifted  its  head  within  me. 

"Well,  it  won't  do  any  harm  to  go  into  Townley's 
and  find  out  about  it,"  I  said,  moving  in  the  direction 
of  the  broker's  office  next  door. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

IN    WHICH    SALLY    PLANS 

My  first  sensation  after  putting  Sally ^s  ten  thousand 
dollars  into  copper  mining  stock  was  one  of  immense 
relief,  almost  of  exhilaration,  as  if  I  already  heard  in  my 
fancy  the  clanking  of  the  loosened  chains  as  they  dropped 
from  me.  I  recalled,  one  by  one,  the  incidents  of  my 
earliest  *^  risky  ^'  and  yet  fortunate  venture,  when, 
following  the  General's  advice,  I  had  gone  in  boldly, 
and  after  a  short  period  of  breathless  fluctuation,  had 
'^realised,"  as  he  had  said,  ^^a  nice  little  fortune  for 
a  first  hatching."  And  because  this  seemed  to  me  the 
single  means  of  recovery,  because  I  had  so  often  before 
in  my  life  been  guided  by  some  infallible  instinct  to 
seize  the  last  chance  that  in  the  outcome  had  proved  to 
be  the  right  way,  I  felt  now  that  reliance  upon  fortune, 
that  assurance  of  the  thing  hoped  for,  which  was  as 
much  a  portion  of  experience  as  it  was  a  quality  of 
temperament. 

At  home,  when  I  reached  there  late  in  the  afternoon,  I 
found  Sally  just  stepping  out  of  the  General's  buggy, 
while  the  great  man,  sacrificing  gallantry  to  the  claims 
of  gout,  sat,  under  his  old-fashioned  linen  dust  robe, 
holding  the  slackened  reins  over  the  grey  horse. 

^' We've  got  a  beautiful  plan,  Ben,  the  General  and  I," 
remarked  Sally,  when  he  had  driven  away,  and  we  were 

376 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   PLANS  377 

entering  the  house ;  ^'but  it's  a  secret,  and  you're  not  to 
know  of  it  until  it  is  ready  to  be  divulged." 

''Is  George  aware  of  it?"  I  asked  irrelevantly,  moved 
by  I  know  not  what  spirit  of  averseness. 

''Yes,  we've  let  George  into  it,  but  I'm  not  perfectly 
sure  that  he  approves.  The  idea  came  to  the  General 
and  to  me  almost  at  the  same  instant,  and  that  is  a  very 
good  thing  to  be  said  of  any  idea.  It  proves  it  to  be 
an  elastic  one  anyway." 

She  talked  merrily  through  supper,  breaking  inta 
smiles  from  time  to  time,  caressing  evidently  this  idea, 
which  was  so  elastic,  and  which  she  declined  provokingly 
to  divulge.  But  I,  also,  had  my  secret,  for  my  mind, 
responding  to  the  springs  of  hope,  toyed  ceaselessly 
with  the  possibility  of  escape.  For  several  weeks  this 
dream  of  ultimate  freedom  possessed  my  thoughts, 
and  then,  at  last,  when  the  copper  trade,  instead  of 
reviving,  seemed  paralysed  for  a  season,  I  awakened 
with  a  shock,  to  the  knowledge  that  I  had  lost  Sally's 
httle  fortune  as  irretrievably  as  I  appeared  to  have 
lost  my  larger  one.  Clearly  my  financial  genius  was 
asleep,  or  off  assisting  at  a  sacrifice;  and  it  did  little 
good,  as  I  toiled  home  in  the  afternoon,  to  curse  myself 
frantically  for  a  perv^erse  and  a  thankless  brute.  It 
was  too  late  now ;  I  had  played  the  fool  once  too  often 
and  the  money  was  gone.  Was  my  brain  weakened 
permanently  by  the  fever,  I  wondered?  Had  the 
muscles  of  my  will  dwindled  away  and  grown  flabby, 
like  the  muscles  of  my  body? 

As  I  left  the  car,  a  group  of  school  children  ran  along 
the  pavement  in  front  of  me,  and  then  scattering  like 
pigeons,  fluttered  after  a  big,  old-fashioned  barouche 


378  THE   ROMANCE   OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

that  had  turned  the  corner.  When  it  came  nearer,  I 
saw  that  the  barouche  was  the  GeneraFs,  a  piece  of 
family  property  which  had  descended  to  him  from  his 
father,  and  that  the  great  man  now  sat  on  the  deep, 
broadcloth-covered  cushions,  his  legs  very  far  apart, 
his  hands  clasped  on  his  gold-headed  walking-stick,  and 
his  square,  mottled  face  staring  straight  ahead,  with  that 
look  of  tenacity,  as  if  he  were  saying  somewhere  back 
in  his  brain,  ''I'll  hang  on  to  the  death/' 

Before  our  door,  where  Sally  was  waiting  in  her  hat 
and  veil,  the  barouche  drew  up  with  a  flourish ;  Balaam, 
the  old  negro  coachman,  settled  himself  for  a  doze  on  the 
box,  and  the  pair  of  fat  roans  began  switching  their 
long  tails  in  the  faces  of  the  swarming  school  chil- 
dren. 

''So  you're  just  in  time,  Ben,"  remarked  the  General, 
while  he  hobbled  out  in  order  to  help  Sally  in.  "I 
thought  you'd  have  been  at  home  at  least  an  hour  ago. 
Meant  to  come  earlier,  but  something  went  wrong  at  the 
stables.  Something  always  is  wrong  at  the  stables.  I 
wouldn't  be  in  George's  shoes  for  a  mint  of  money. 
Never  a  day  passes  that  he  isn't  fussing  about  his  horses, 
or  his  traps,  or  his  groom.  Well,  you're  ready,  Sally  ? 
I  like  a  woman  who  is  punctual,  and  I  never  in  my  Hfe 
knew  but  one  who  was.  That  was  your  Aunt  Matoaca. 
You  get  it  from  her,  I  suppose.  Ah,  she  never  kept  you 
waiting  a  minute,  —  no  fussing  about  gloves  or  fans  or 
handkerchiefs.  Always  just  ready  when  you  came  for 
her,  and  looking  like  an  angel.  Never  saw  her  in  a 
rose-lined  bonnet,  did  you,  my  dear?" 

"Only  in  black.  General,"  replied  Sally,  as  she  took 
her  seat  in  the  barouche.     "Come,  get  in,  Ben,  we're 


IN    WHICH    SALLY    PLANS  379 

going  to  reveal  our  secret  at  last,  and  we  want  you  to 
be  with  us." 

The  General  got  in  again  with  difficulty,  groaning  a 
Httle ;  I  entered  and  sat  down  opposite  to  them,  with 
my  back  to  the  horses;  and  the  old  negro  coachman, 
disappointed  at  the  length  of  the  wait,  pulled  the  reins 
gently  and  gave  a  shght,  admonishing  flick  at  the 
broad  flanks  of  the  roans.  Behind  the  barouche  the 
school  children  still  fluttered,  and  turning  in  his  seat,  the 
General  looked  back  angrily  and  threatened  them  mth 
a  wave  of  his  big  ebony  walking-stick. 

^'What  is  it,  Sally  ?'^  I  asked,  striving  to  force  a 
curiosity  my  wretchedness  prevented  me  from  feeling ; 
'^ can't  you  unfold  the  mystery?" 

^'Be  patient,  be  patient,"  she  responded  gaily, 
leaning  back  beside  the  General,  as  we  rolled  down  the 
vnde  street  under  the  wilted,  dusty  leaves  of  the  trees. 
^^  Haven't  you  noticed  for  weeks  that  the  General  and 
I  have  had  a  secret?" 

^^Yes,  I've  noticed  it,  but  I  thought  3^ou'd  tell  me 
when  the  time  came." 

^^We  shan't  tell  him,  shall  we.  General  ?  — We'll 
show  him." 

"  Xh,  there's  time  enough,  time  enough,"  returned  the 
General,  absent-mindedly,  for  he  had  not  been  listening. 
His  resolute,  bulldog  face,  flushed  now  by  the  heat  and 
covered  with  a  fine  perspiration,  had  taken  on  an 
absorbed  and  pondering  look.  ^^I  never  come  along 
here  that  it  doesn't  put  me  back  at  least  fifty  years," 
he  observed,  leaning  over  his  side  of  the  barouche,  and 
peering  down  one  of  the  side  streets  that  led  past  the 
churchyard.     ''Sorry  they've  been  meddling  with  that 


380  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

old  church.  Better  have  left  it  as  it  used  to  be  in  my 
boyhood.  Do  you  see  that  little  house  there,  set  back 
in  the  yard,  with,  the  chimney  crumbling  to  pieces? 
That  was  the  first  school  I  ever  went  to,  and  it  was 
taught  by  old  Miss  Deborah  Timberlake,  the  sister  of 
Wilham  Timberlake  who  shot  all  those  stags'  heads 
you've  got  hanging  in  your  hall.  Xobody  ever  knew 
why  she  taught  school.  Plenty  to  eat  and  drink. 
William  gave  her  everything  that  she  wanted,  but  she 
got  cranky  when  she'd  turned  sixty,  and  insisted  on 
being  independent.  Independent,  she  said !  Pish ! 
Tush.  Never  learned  a  word  from  her.  Taught  us 
English  history,  then  Virginia  history.  As  for  the 
rest  of  America,  she  used  to  say  it  didn't  have  a  history, 
merely  a  past.  Mentioned  the  Boston  tea  party  once 
by  mistake,  and  had  to  explain  that  that  was  an  inci- 
dent, not  history.  Well,  well,  it  seems  a  thousand  years 
ago.  Never  could  understand,  to  save  my  life,  why  she 
took  to  teaching.  Had  all  she  wanted.  Her  brother 
WiUiam  was  an  odd  man.  A  fine  toast.  I  never  heard 
a  better  story  —  I  remember  them  even  as  a  boy  — 
and  often  enough  I've  got  them  off  since  his  death. 
Used  to  ill-treat  his  slaves,  though,  they  said,  and  had 
queer  ideas  about  women  and  property.  Married  his 
wife  who  didn't  have  a  red  penny,  and  on  his  wed- 
ding j  ourney,  when  she  called  him  by  his  name,  rephed 
to  her,  ^  Madam,  my  dependants  are  accustomed  to 
address  me  as  Mr.  Timberlake.'  Ha,  ha  !  a  queer  bird 
was  William." 

The  street  was  the  one  down  which  I  had  passed  so 
many  years  ago,  wedged  tightly  between  my  mother 
and  Mrs.  Kidd,  to  the  funeral  of  old  Mr.  Cudlip ;  and 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   PLAXS  381 

it  seemed  to  me  that  it  held  unchanged^  as  if  it 
had  stagnated  there  between  the  quaint  old  houses, 
that  same  atmosphere  of  sadness,  of  desolation.  The 
houses,  still  half  closed,  appeared  all  but  deserted ;  the 
aged  negresses,  staring  after  us  under  their  hollowed 
palms,  looked  as  if  they  had  stood  there  forever.  Prog- 
ress, which  had  invaded  the  neighbouring  quarters,  had 
left  this  one,  as  yet,  undisturbed. 

Opposite  to  me,  Sally  smiled  vdth  beaming  eyes  when 
she  met  my  gaze.  I  knew  that  she  was  hugging  her 
secret,  and  I  knew,  in  some  intuitive  way,  that  she 
expected  this  secret  to  afford  me  pleasure.  The  Gen- 
eral, peering  from  right  to  left  in  search  of  associations, 
kept  moving  his  lips  as  if  he  were  thinking  aloud.  On 
his  face,  in  the  deep  creases  where  the  perspiration  had 
gathered,  the  dust,  rising  from  the  street,  had  settled 
in  gre}dsh  streaks.  From  time  to  time,  in  an  absent- 
minded  manner,  he  got  out  his  big  white  silk  handker- 
chief and  wiped  it  away. 

^'' There  nowM  Vve  got  it !  Hold  on  a  minute, 
Balaam.  That's  the  house  that  Eobert  Carrington 
built  clean  over  here  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill. 
There  it  is  now  —  the  one  with  that  pink  crape  myrtle 
in  the  yard,  and  the  four  columns,  you  can  see  it  with 
your  own  eyes.  Theophilus  tried  to  prove  to  me  that 
Robert  lived  in  Bushrod's  house,  and  that  he'd 
attended  him  there  in  his  last  illness.  Last  illness, 
indeed  !  The  truth  is  that  Theophilus  isn't  what  he 
once  was.  Memory's  going  and  he  doesn't  like  to  own 
it.  No  use  arguing  Tvdth  him  —  you  can't  argue  with  a 
man  whose  memory  is  going  —  but  there's  Robert 
Carrington's  house.  You've  seen  it  with  your  own  eyes. 
Drive  on,  Balaam." 


3»2  THE    KOMAJNCE   OF    A    PLAIN    MAN 

Balaam  drove  on,  and  the  carriage,  leaving  the  city 
and  the  thinning  suburbs,  passed  rapidly  into  one  of  the 
country  roads,  white  with  dust,  which  stretched  between 
ragged  borders  of  yarrow  and  pokeberry  that  were  white 
^dth  dust  also.  The  fields  on  either  side,  sometimes 
planted  in  corn,  oftener  grown  wild  in  broomsedge  or 
life-everlasting,  shimmered  under  the  heat,  which  was 
alive  with  the  whirring  of  innumerable  insects.  Here 
and  there  a  negro  cabin,  built  close  to  the  road,  stood 
bare  in  a  piece  of  burned-out  clearing,  or  showed 
behind  the  thick  fanlike  leaves  of  gourd  vines,  with  the 
heads  of  sunflowers  nodding  heavily  beside  the  open 
doorways.  Occasionally,  in  the  first  few  miles,  a 
covered  wagon  crawled  by  us  on  its  way  to  town,  the 
driver  leaning  far  over  the  dusty  horses,  and  singing  out 
^' Howdy  !"  in  a  friendly  voice,  —  to  which  the  General 
invariably  responded  ^^  Howdy,  ^^  in  the  same  tone,  as  he 
touched  the  wide  brim  of  his  straw  hat  with  his  ebony 
stick. 

^^HasnH  got  on  the  scent,  has  he?^'  he  enquired 
presently  of  Sally,  with  a  sly  wink  in  my  direction. 
^^\re  you  sure  George  hasn^t  let  it  out?  Never  could 
keep  a  secret,  could  George.  He's  one  of  those  close- 
mouthed  fellows  that  shuts  a  thing  up  so  tight  it  ex- 
plodes before  he's  aware  of  it.  He  can't  hide  anything 
from  me.  I  read  him  just  as  if  he  were  a  book.  It's 
as  well,  I  reckon,  as  I  told  him  the  other  day,  that  he 
isn't  still  in  love  with  your  wife,  Ben,  or  it  would  be 
written  all  over  him  as  plain  as  big  print." 

My  eyes  caught  Sally's,  and  she  blushed  a  clear, 
warm  pink  to  the  heavy  waves  of  her  hair. 

^^Not  that  he'd  ever  be  such  a  rascal  as  to  keep  up  a 


IN   WHICH    SALLY  PLANS  383 

fancy  for  a  married  woman/'  pursued  the  great  man, 
unseeing  and  unthinking.  '^The  BoUngbrokes  may 
have  been  wild,  but  they've  always  been  men  of  honour, 
and  even  if  they've  played  fast  and  loose  now  and  then 
with  a  woman,  they  have  never  tried  to  pilfer  any- 
thing that  belonged  to  another  man." 

^'I  think  we're  coming  to  it,"  said  Sally  suddenly, 
tning  to  turn  the  conversation  to  lighter  matters. 

'^\h,  so  we  are,  so  we  are.  That's  a  good  view  of  the 
river,  and  there's  the  railroad  station  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill  not  a  half  mile  away.  It's  the  very  thing  you  need, 
Ben,  it  w^ill  be  the  making  of  you  and  of  the  youngster, 
as  I  said  to  Sally  when  the  idea  first  entered  my 
mind." 

The  barouche  made  a  quick  turn  into  a  straight  lane 
bordered  by  old  locust  trees,  and  stopped  a  few  minutes 
later  before  a  square  red  brick  country  house,  with  four 
white  columns  supporting  the  portico,  and  a  bower 
of  ancient  ivy  growing  over  the  roof. 

"Here  we  are  at  last !  Oh,  Ben,  don't  you  like  it?" 
said  Sally,  springing  to  the  ground  before  the  horses  had 
stopped. 

''Like  it?  Of  course  he  Hkes  it,"  returned  the 
General,  impatiently,  as  he  got  out  and  followed  her 
between  the  rows  of  calycanthus  bushes  that  edged  the 
walk.  ''What  business  has  he  got  not  to  like  it  after 
all  the  trouble  we've  been  to  on  his  account?  It's  th^ 
very  thing  for  his  health  —  that's  what  I  said  to  you. 
my  dear,  as  soon  as  I  heard  of  Miss  Mitty's  legacy. 
'The  old  Bending  place  is  for  sale  and  will  go  cheap/ 
I  said.  'Why  not  move  out  into  the  country  and  give 
Ben  and  the  youngster  a  chance  to  breathe  fresh  air? 


384  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

He's  beginning  to  look  seedy  and  fresh  air  will  set  him 
up.''' 

^'But  I  really  don't  believe  he  likes  it/'  rejoined 
Sally,  a  little  wistfully,  turning,  as  she  reached  the  col- 
umns of  the  portico,  and  looking  doubtfully  into  my 
face. 

*^You  know  I  like  anything  that  you  like,  Sally,"  I 
answered  in  a  voice  which,  I  knew,  sounded  flat  and 
unenthusiastic,  in  spite  of  my  effort;  ^^it's  a  fine  house 
and  there's  a  good  view  of  the  river,  I  dare  say,  at  the 
back." 

^^I  thought  it  would  please  you,  Ben.  It  seemed  to 
the  General  and  me  the  very  best  thing  we  could  do 
with  Aunt  Mitty's  money." 

There  was  a  hurt  look  in  her  eyes ;  her  mouth  trembled 
as  she  spoke,  and  all  the  charming  mystery  had  fled 
from  her  manner.  If  we  had  been  alone  I  should  have 
opened  my  arms  to  her,  and  have  made  my  confession 
with  her  head  on  my  shoulder ;  but  the  square,  excited 
figure  of  the  General,  who  kept  marching  aimlessly  up 
and  down  between  the  calycanthus  bushes,  put  the 
restraint  of  a  terrible  embarrassment  upon  my  words. 
Tell  her  I  must,  and  yet  how  could  I  tell  her  while  the 
little  cynical  bloodshot  eyes  of  the  great  man  were  upon 
us? 

^' Let's  go  to  the  back.  We  can  see  the  river  from 
the  terrace,"  she  said,  and  there  was  a  touching  disap- 
pointment in  her  smile  and  her  voice. 

^^Yes,  we'll  go  to  the  back,"  responded  the  General, 
with  eagerness.  ^^  Follow  this  path,  Ben,  the  one  that 
leads  round  the  west  wing,"  and  he  added  when  we  had 
turned  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  stopped  on  the  trim 


IN   WHICH    SALLY   PLANS  385 

terrace,  covered  with  beds  of  sweet-william  and  fox- 
glove, ^^What  do  you  think  of  that  for  a  \4ew  now?  If 
those  big  poplars  were  out  of  the  way,  you  could  see 
clear  down  to  Merrivale,  the  old  Smith  place,  where  I 
used  to  go  as  a  boy/' 

Meeting  the  disappointment  in  Sally's  look,  I  tried 
to  rise  valiantly  to  the  occasion;  but  it  was  evident, 
even  while  I  uttered  my  empty  phrases,  that  to  all  of 
us,  except  the  General,  the  mystery  had  been  blighted 
by  some  deadly  chill  in  the  very  instant  of  its  unfold- 
ing. The  great  man  alone,  with  that  power  of  ignor- 
ing the  obvious,  which  had  contributed  so  largely 
to  his  success,  continued  his  running  comments  in  his 
cheerful,  dogmatic  tone.  Some  twenty  minutes  later, 
when,  after  an  indifferent  inspection  of  the  house  on  our 
part,  and  a  vigilant  one  on  the  General's,  we  rolled  back 
again  in  the  barouche  over  the  dusty  road,  he  was  still 
perfectly  unaware  that  the  surprise  he  had  sprung  had 
not  been  attended  by  a  triumph  of  pleasure  for  us  all. 

^^  You're  foolish,  my  dear,  about  those  big  poplars," 
he  said  a  dozen  times,  while  he  sat  staring,  with  an  un- 
seeing gaze,  at  the  thin  red  line  of  the  sunset  over  the 
corn-fields.  ^^They  ought  to  come  down,  and  then  you 
could  see  clean  to  the  old  Smith  place,  where  I  used  to 
go  as  a  boy.  I  learned  to  shoot  there.  Fell  in  love,  too, 
when  I  wasn't  more  than  twelve  with  Miss  Lucy  Smith, 
my  first  flame  —  pretty  as  a  pink,  all  the  boys  were  in 
love  with  her." 

Sally's  hand  stole  into  mine  under  the  muslin  ruffles  of 

her  dress,  and  her  eyes,  when  she  looked  at  me,  held  a 

soft,  deprecating  expression,  as  if  she  were  trying  to 

understand,  and  could  not,  how  she  had  hurt  me.    When 

2c 


38€  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

at  last  we  came  to  our  own  door  and  the  General, 
after  insisting  again  that  the  only  improvement  needed 
to  the  place  was  that  the  big  poplars  should  come  down, 
Jiad  driven  serenely  away  in  his  big  barouche^  we  ascended 
the  steps  in  silence,  and  entered  the  sitting-room,  which 
was  filled  with  the  pale  gloom  of  twilight.  While  I 
lighted  the  lamp,  she  waited  in  the  centre  of  the  room, 
with  the  soft,  deprecating  expression  still  in  her  eyes. 

^'What  is  it,  Ben?"  she  asked,  facing  the  lamp  as  I 
turned;  ^'did  you  mind  my  keeping  the  idea  a  secret? 
Why,  I  thought  that  would  please  you." 

''It  isn't  that,  Sally,  it  isn't  that,  —  but  —  I Ve 
lost  the  money." 

''Lost  it,  Ben?" 

"I  saw  what  I  thought  was  a  good  chance  to  specu- 
late —  and  I  speculated." 

"You  speculated  with  the  ten  thousand  dollars?'' 

''Yes." 

^'Andlostit?" 

"Yes." 

For  a  moment  her  face  was  inscrutable. 

"When  did  it  happen?" 

'"I  found  out  to-day  that  it  was  gone  beyond  hope 
of  recovery." 

"Then  you  haven't  known  it  all  along  and  kept  it 
from  me?" 

"I  was  going  to  tell  you  as  soon  as  I  came  up  this 
afternoon,  but  the  General  was  here." 

"I  am  glad  of  that,"  she  said  quietly.  "If  you  had 
kept  anything  from  me  and  worried  over  it,  it  would 
have  broken  my  heart." 

"Sally,  I  have  been  a  fool." 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   PLANS  387 

'^Yes,  dear/^ 

'^  Heaven  knows,  I  don't  mean  to  add  to  your 
troubles,  but  when  I  think  of  all  that  I've  brought  you 
to,  I  feel  as  if  I  should  go  out  of  my  mind.'^ 

She  put  her  hand  on  my  arm,  smiling  up  at  me  with 
her  old  sparkling  gaiety.  '^Come  and  sit  down  by 
me,  and  we'll  have  a  cup  of  tea,  and  you'll  feel  better. 
But  first  I  must  tell  you  that  I  am  a  terribly  extrav- 
agant person,  Ben,  for  I  paid  another  dollar  and  a 
quarter  for  a  pound  of  tea  this  morning.'^ 

''Thank  heaven  for  it,'^  I  returned  devoutly. 

''And  there's  something  else.  I  feel  my  sins  grow- 
ing on  me.  Do  you  remember  last  winter,  when  yo\; 
were  worrying  so  over  your  losses,  and  didn't  kno^r 
where  you  could  turn  for  cash  —  do  you  remembec 
that  I  paid  five  thousand  dollars  —  five  thousand  dol- 
lars, you  understand,  and  that's  half  of  ten  —  for  ^ 
lace  gown?'^ 

"Did  you,  darling?" 

"Do  you  remember  what  you  said?" 

'"Thank  you  for  the  privilege  of  paying  for  it,'  I 
hope." 

"You  paid  the  bill,  and  never  told  me  I  oughtn't  to 
have  bought  it.  What  you  said  was,  'I'm  awfully 
glad  you've  got  such  a  becoming  dress,  because  busi- 
ness is  going  badly,  and  we  may  have  to  pull  up  for 
a  while.'  Then  I  found  out  from  George  that  you'd 
sold  your  motor  car,  and  everything  else  you  could 
lay  hands  on  to  meet  the  daily  expenses.  Now,  Ben, 
tell  me  honestly  which  is  the  worse  sinner,  you  or  I?" 

"But  that  was  my  fault,  too  —  everything  was  my 
fault." 


388  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIK   MAN 

'^The  idea  of  your  committing  the  extravagance  of 
a  lace  gown !  Why,  you  couldn^t  even  tell  the  differ- 
ence between  imitation  and  real.  And  that  pound  of 
tea !  You  know  you'd  never  have  gone  out  and 
spent  your  last  dollar  and  a  quarter  on  a  pound  of 
tea/' 

^^If  you'd  wanted  it,  Sally." 

'^Well,  you  speculated  with  that  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars from  exactly  the  same  motive  —  because  you 
thought  I  wanted  so  much  that  I  didn't  have.  But  I 
bought  that  gown  entirely  to  gratify  my  vanity  —  so 
you  see,  after  all,  I'm  a  great  deal  the  worse  sinner  of 
us  two.  There,  now,  I  must  see  about  the  baby.  He 
was  very  fretful  all  the  morning,  and  the  doctor  says 
it  is  the  heat.  I'm  sure,  Ben,  that  he  ought  to  get  out 
of  the  city.     How  can  we  manage  it?" 

^^I'll  manage  it,  dear.  The  General  will  be  only  too 
glad  to  lend  the  money.  I'll  go  straight  over  and  ex- 
plain matters  to  him." 

A  cry  came  from  little  Benjamin  in  the  nursery,  and 
kissing  me  hurriedly  with,  ^^  Remember,  I'm  a  sinner, 
Ben,"  she  left  the  room,  while  I  took  up  my  hat  again, 
and  went  up-town  to  make  my  confession  to  the  Gen- 
eral and  request  his  assistance. 

^'Lend  it  to  you,  you  scamp  !"  he  exclaimed,  whefi  I 
found  him  on  his  front  porch  with  a  palm-leaf  fan  in 
his  hand.  ^^Of  course,  I'll  lend  it  to  you;  but  why  in 
the  deuce  were  you  so  blamed  cheerful  this  afternoon 
about  that  house  in  the  country  ?  I  could  have  sworn 
you  were  in  a  gale  over  the  idea.  Here.,  Hatty,  bring 
me  a  pen.  I  can  see  perfectly  well  by  this  damned 
electric  light  they've  stuck  at  my  door.     Well,  I'm 


IN   WHICH   SALLY   PLANS  389 

Borry  enough  for  you,  Ben.  It's  hard  on  your  wife, 
and  she's  the  kind  of  woman  that  makes  a  man  believe 
in  the  angels.  Her  Aunt  Matoaca  all  over  —  you 
know,  George,  I  always  told  you  that  Sally  Mickle- 
borough  was  the  image  of  her  Aunt  Matoaca." 

''I  know  you  did/'  replied  George,  twirling  the 
end  of  his  mustache.  He  looked  tired  and  anxious, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  suddenly  that  the  whole  city,  and 
every  face  in  it,  under  the  white  blaze  of  the  electric 
light,  had  this  same  tired  and  anxious  expression. 

I  took  the  cheque,  put  it  into  my  pocket  with  a  word 
of  thanks,  and  turned  to  the  steps. 

^^I  can't  stay.  General,  while  the  baby  is  ill.  Sally 
may  need  me." 

^'Well,  you're  right,  Ben,  stick  to  her  when  she  needs 
you,  and  you'll  find  she'll  stick  to  you.  I've  always 
said  that  gratitude  counted  stronger  in  the  sex  than 
love." 

As  I  went  down  the  steps  George  joined  me,  and 
walked  with  me  to  the  car  line.  The  look  on  his  face 
brought  to  my  memory  the  night  I  had  seen  him  star- 
ing moodily  across  the  roses  and  lilies  at  Sally's  bare 
shoulders,  and  the  same  fierce  instinct  of  possession 
gnawed  in  my  heart. 

'^Look  here,  Ben,  I  can't  bear  to  think  of  the  way 
things  are  going  with  Sally,"  he  said. 

^^I  can't  bear  to  think  of  it  myself,"  I  returned 
gloomily. 

^^If  there's  ever  anything  I  can  do  —  remember  I  am 
at  your  service." 

''I'll  remember  it,  George,"  I  answered,  angry  with 
myself  because  my  gratitude  was  shot  through  with  a 


390  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

less  noble  feeling.  ''I'll  remember  it,  and  I  thank  you, 
too.'' 

''Then  it's  a  bargain.  You  won't  let  her  suffer 
because  you're  too  proud  to  take  help  ?  " 

"No,  I  won't  let  her  suffer  if  I  have  to  beg  to  pre- 
vent it.     Haven't  I  just  done  so  ?" 

He  held  out  his  hand,  I  wrung  it  in  mine,  and  then, 
as  I  got  on  the  car,  he  turned  away  and  walked  at  his 
lazy  step  back  along  the  block.  Looking  from  the  car 
window,  as  it  passed  on,  I  saw  his  slim,  straight  figure 
moving,  with  bent  head,  as  if  plunged  in  thought, 
under  the  electric  light  at  the  corner. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE    DEEPEST   SHADOW 

As  I  entered  the  house,  the  sound  of  Aunt  Euphro- 
nasia's  crooning  fell  on  my  ears,  and  going  into  the 
nursery,  I  found  Sally  sitting  by  the  window,  with  the 
child  on  her  knees,  while  the  old  negress  waved  a  palm- 
leaf  fan  back  and  forth  with  a  slow,  rhythmic  move- 
ment. A  night-lamp  burned,  with  lowered  wick,  on 
the  bureau,  and  as  Sally  looked  up  at  me,  I  saw  that 
her  face  had  grown  wan  and  haggard  since  I  had  left 
her. 

''The  baby  was  taken  very  ill  just  after  you  went,'' 
she  said;  ''we  feared  a  convulsion,  and  I  sent  one  of 
the  neighbours'  children  for  the  doctor.  It  may  be 
only  the  heat,  he  says,  but  he  is  coming  again  at  mid- 
night.'' 

^'I  had  hoped  you  would  be  able  to  get  off  in  the 
morning." 

"No,  not  now.  The  baby  is  too  ill.  In  a  few  days> 
perhaps,  if  he  is  better." 

Her  voice  broke,  and  kneeling  beside  her,  I  clasped 
them  both  in  my  arms,  while  the  anguish  in  my  heart 
rose  suddenly  like  a  wild  beast  to  my  throat. 

"What  can  I  do,  Sally?"  I  asked  passionately. 
"What  can  I  do?" 

"Nothing,  dear,  nothing.     Only  be  quiet." 

Only  be  quiet !     Rising  to  my  feet  I  walked  softly 

391 


392  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

to  the  end  of  the  room;  and  then  turning  came  back 
again  to  the  spot  where  I  had  knelt.  At  the  moment 
I  longed  to  knock  down  something,  to  strangle  some- 
thing, to  pull  to  earth  and  destroy  as  a  beast  destroys 
in  a  rage.  Through  the  open  window  I  could  see  a 
full  moon  shining  over  a  magnolia,  and  the  very  soft- 
ness and  quiet  of  the  moonlight  appeared,  in  some 
strange  w^ay,  to  increase  my  suffering.  A  faint  breeze, 
scented  with  jessamine,  blew  every  now  and  then  from 
the  garden,  rising,  dying  away,  and  rising  again,  until 
it  waved  the  loosened  tendrils  of  hair  on  Sally^s  neck. 
The  odour,  also,  like  the  moonlight,  mingled,  while  I 
stood  there,  and  was  made  one  with  the  anguish  in  my 
thoughts.  Again  I  walked  the  length  of  the  room, 
and  again  I  turned  and  came  back  to  the  window  be- 
side which  Sally  sat.  My  foot  as  I  moved  stumbled 
upon  something  soft  and  round,  and  stooping  to  pick 
it  up,  I  saw  that  it  was  a  rubber  doll,  dropped  by  little 
Benjamin  when  he  had  grown  too  ill  or  too  tired  to 
play.  I  laid  it  in  Sally^s  work-basket  on  the  table,  and 
then  throwing  off  my  coat,  flung  myself  into  a  chair  in 
one  corner.  A  minute  afterwards  I  rose,  and  walking 
gently  through  the  long  window,  looked  on  the  garden, 
which  lay  dim  and  fragrant  under  the  moonlight.  On 
the  porch,  twining  in  and  out  of  the  columns,  the  star 
jessamine,  riotous  with  its  second  blooming,  swayed 
back  and  forth  like  a  curtain ;  and  as  I  bent  over,  the 
small,  white,  deadly  sweet  blossoms  caressed  my  face. 
A  white  moth  whirred  by  me  into  the  room,  and  when 
I  entered  again,  I  saw  that  it  was  flying  swiftly  in 
circles,  above  the  flame  of  the  night-lamp  on  the  bureau. 
Sally  was  sitting  just  as  I  had  left  her,  her  arm  under 


THE   DEEPEST   SHADOW  393 

the  child's  head,  her  face  bent  forward  as  if  listening 
to  a  distant;  almost  inaudible  sound.  She  appeared 
so  still,  so  patient,  that  I  wondered  in  amazement  if 
she  had  sat  there  for  hours,  unchanged,  unheeding,  un- 
approachable ?  There  was  in  her  attitude,  in  her  pen- 
sive quiet,  something  so  detached  and  tragic,  that  I 
felt  suddenly  that  I  had  never  really  seen  her  until 
that  minute ;  and  instead  of  going  to  her  as  I  had  in- 
tended, I  drew  away,  and  stood  on  the  threshold  watch- 
ing her  almost  as  a  stranger  might  have  done.  Once 
the  child  stirred  and  cried,  lifting  his  little  hands  and 
letting  them  fall  again  w^ith  the  same  short  cry  of  dis- 
tress. The  flesh  of  my  heart  seemed  to  tear  suddenly 
asunder,  and  I  sprang  forward.  Sally  looked  up  at  me, 
shook  her  head  with  a  slow,  quiet  movement,  and  I 
stopped  short  as  if  rooted  there  by  the  single  step  I 
had  taken.  After  ten  years  I  remember  every  de- 
tail, every  glimmer  of  light,  every  fitful  rise  and  fall  of 
the  breeze,  as  if,  not  visual  objects  only,  but  scents, 
sounds,  and  movements,  were  photographed  indelibh' 
on  my  brain.  I  know  that  the  white  moth  fluttered 
about  my  head,  and  that  raising  my  hand,  I  caught  it 
in  my  palm,  which  closed  over  it  with  violence.  Then 
the  cry  from  little  Benjamin  came  again,  and  opening 
my  palm,  I  watched  the  white  moth  fall  dead,  with 
crushed  wings,  to  the  floor.  When  I  forget  all  else  in 
my  life,  I  shall  still  see  Sally  sitting  motionless,  like  a 
painted  figure,  in  the  faint,  reddish  glow  of  the  night- 
lamp,  while  above  her,  and  above  the  little  waxen  face 
on  her  knee,  the  shadow  of  the  palm-leaf  fan,  waved 
by  Aunt  Euphronasia,  flitted  to  and  fro  like  the  wing 
of  a  bat. 


394  THE    EOMAXCE    OF    A    PLAIX   MAN 

At  midnight  the  doctor  came;  and  when  he  left,  I 
followed  him  to  the  front  steps. 

^'I'll  come  again  at  dawn/'  he  said,  '^and  in  the  mean- 
time look  out  for  your  wife.  She's  been  strained  to  the 
point  of  breaking." 

^^You  think,  then,  that  the  child  is  —  is  hopeless?" 

''Not  hopeless,  but  very  serious.  I'll  be  back  in  a 
few  hours.  If  there's  a  change,  send  for  me,  and  re^ 
member,  as  I  said,  look  out  for  your  wife." 

I  went  indoors,  found  some  port  wine  left  in  Miss 
Mitty's  bottles,  poured  out  a  glass,  and  carried  it  to 
her. 

''Drink  this,  darling,"  I  said. 

As  I  held  it  to  her  lips,  she  swallowed  it  obediently, 
and  then,  looking  up,  she  thanked  me  with  her  unfail- 
ing smile. 

''  Oh,  we'll  drink  outer  de  heaUn'  fountain,  by  en  bye,  lil' 
chillun," 

crooned  Aunt  Euphronasia  softly,  and  the  tune  has 
rung  ever  afterwards  somewhere  in  my  brain.  To 
escape  from  it  at  the  time,  I  went  out  upon  the  front 
steps,  closed  the  door,  and  walked,  restless  as  a  caged 
tiger,  up  and  down  the  deserted  pavement.  A  home- 
less dog  or  two,  panting  from  thirst,  lay  in  the  gutter ; 
otherwise  there  was  not  a  sound,  not  a  living  thing, 
from  end  to  end  of  the  long  dusty  street. 

For  two  hours  I  walked  up  and  down  there,  entering 
the  house  from  time  to  time  to  see  if  Sally  needed  me, 
or  if  she  had  moved.  Then,  as  the  light  broke  feebly, 
the  doctor  came,  and  we  went  in  together.  Sally  was 
still  sitting  there,  as  she  had  sat  all  night,  rigid  in  the 


THE   DEEPEST   SHADOW  395 

dim  glow  of  the  lamp,  and  over  her  Aunt  Euphronasia 
still  waved  the  palm-leaf  fan  with  its  black,  flitting 
shadow.  Then,  as  we  crossed  the  threshold,  there  was 
a  sudden  sharp  cry,  and  when  I  sprang  forward  and 
caught  them  both  in  my  arms,  I  found  that  Sally  had 
fainted  and  the  child  was  dead  on  her  knees. 

We  buried  the  child  in  the  old  Bland  section  at 
Hollywood,  where  a  single  twisted  yew-tree  grew 
between  the  graves,  obliterated  by  ivy,  of  Edmond 
Bland  and  his  wife,  Caroline  Matilda,  born  Fairfax. 
On  the  way  home  Sally  sat  rigid  and  tearless,  with  her 
hand  in  mine,  and  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  drawn  blinds 
of  the  carriage,  as  though  she  were  staring  intently 
through  the  closed  window  at  something  that  fascinated 
and  held  her  gaze  in  the  dusty  street. 

^^Does  your  head  ache,  darling?"  I  asked  once,  and 
she  made  a  quick,  half-impatient  gesture  of  denial,  with 
that  strained,  rapt  look,  as  if  she  were  seeing  a  vision, 
still  in  her  face.  Only  when  we  reached  home,  and  Aunt 
Euphronasia  met  her  with  outstretched  arms  on  the 
threshold,  did  this  agonised  composure  break  down  in 
passionate  weeping  on  the  old  negress's  shoulder. 

The  strength  which  had  upheld  her  so  long  seemed 
suddenly  to  have  departed,  and  all  night  she  wept  on 
my  breast,  while  I  fanned  her  in  the  hot  air,  which 
had  grown  humid  and  close.  Not  until  the  dawn  had 
broken  did  my  arm  drop  powerless  with  sleep,  and  the 
fan  fell  on  the  pillow.  Then  I  slept  for  an  hour,  worn 
out  with  grief  and  exhaustion,  and  when  presently  I 
awoke  with  a  start,  I  saw  that  she  had  left  my  side, 
and  that  her  muslin  dressing-gown  was  missing  from 


396  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

the  chintz-covered  chair  where  it  had  lain.  When  I 
called  her  in  alarm,  she  came  through  the  doorway 
that  led  to  the  kitchen,  freshly  dressed,  with  a  coffee- 
pot in  her  hand. 

^'For  God^s  sake,  Sally,''  I  implored,  *^ don't  make 
coffee  for  me !" 

^^I've  made  it,  dear,"  she  answered.  '^I  couldn't 
let  you  go  out  without  a  mouthful  to  eat.  You  did  not 
sleep  a  Tvink." 

^^\nd  you?"  I  demanded. 

^^I  didn't  sleep  either,  but  then  I  can  rest  all  day." 
Her  Up  trembled  and  she  pressed  her  teeth  into  it. 
''By  the  time  you  are  dressed,  Ben,  breakfast  will  be 
ready." 

Her  eyes  were  red  and  swollen,  her  mouth  pale  and 
tremulous,  all  her  radiant  energy  seemed  beaten  out 
of  her;  yet  she  spoke  almost  cheerfully,  and  there  was 
none  of  the  slovenliness  of  sorrow  in  her  fresh  and 
charming  appearance.  I  dressed  quickly,  and  going 
into  the  sitting-room,  drank  the  coffee  she  had  made 
because  I  knew  it  would  please  her.  When  it  was 
time  for  me  to  start,  she  went  with  me  to  the  door,  and 
turning  midway  of  the  block,  I  saw  her  standing  on 
the  steps,  smiling  after  me,  with  the  sun  in  her  eyes, 
like  the  ghost  of  herself  as  she  had  stood  and  smiled 
the  morning  after  my  failure.  In  the  evening  I  found 
her  paler,  thinner,  more  than  ever  like  the  w^an  shadow 
of  herself,  yet  meeting  me  with  the  same  brave  cheer- 
fulness with  which  she  had  sent  me  forth.  Could  I 
ever  repay  her?  I  asked  myself  passionately,  could  I 
ever  forget  ? 

The  dreary  summer  weeks  dragged  by  like  an  eter- 


THE   DEEPEST   SHADOW  397 

nity;  the  autumn  came  and  passed^  and  at  the  first 
of  the  year  I  was  sent  down,  with  a  salary  of  ten 
thousand  dollars,  to  build  up  traffic  on  the  Tennessee 
and  Carolina  Railroad,  which  the  Great  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  had  absorbed.  Sally  went  Tvdth  me,  but 
she  was  so  languid  and  ill  that  the  change,  instead  of 
invigorating  her,  appeared  to  exhaust  her  remaining 
vitality.  She  lived  only  when  I  was  with  her,  and 
when  I  came  in  unexpectedly,  as  I  did  sometimes,  I 
would  find  her  lying  so  still  and  cold  on  the  couch 
that  I  would  gather  her  to  me  in  a  passion  of  fear  lest 
she  should  elude  the  lighter  grasp  vriih  which  I  had 
held  her.  Never,  not  even  in  her  girlhood,  had  I  loved 
her  with  the  intensity,  the  violence,  of  those  months 
when  I  hardly  dared  clasp  her  to  me  in  my  terror  that 
she  might  dissolve  and  vanish  from  my  embrace. 
Then,  at  last,  when  the  spring  came,  and  the  w^oods 
were  filled  mth  flowering  dogwood  and  red-bud,  she 
seemed  to  revive  a  little,  to  bloom  softly  again,  like  a 
flower  that  opens  the  sweeter  and  fresher  after  the 
storm. 

^^Is  it  the  mild  air,  or  the  spring  flowers?"  I  asked 
one  afternoon,  as  we  drove  through  the  Southern  woods, 
along  a  narrow  deserted  road  that  smelt  of  the  bud- 
ding pines. 

^'Neither,  Ben,  it  is  you,"  she  replied.  ^^I  have  had 
you  all  these  months.  Without  that  I  could  not  have 
lived." 

''You  have  had  me,"  I  answered,  ''ever  since  the  first 
minute  I  saw  your  face.     You  have  had  me  always." 

''Not  always.  During  those  years  of  your  great 
success  I  thought  I  had  lost  you." 


398  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

'^How  could  you,  Sally,  when  it  was  all  for  you,  and 
you  knew  it?'' 

'^It  may  have  been  for  me  in  the  beginning,  but  suc- 
cess, when  it  came,  crowded  me  out.  It  left  me  no 
room.  That's  why  I  didn't  really  mind  the  failure, 
dear,  and  the  poverty  —  that's  why  I  don't  now  really 
mind  this  burden  of  debt.  Success  took  you  away 
from  me,  failure  brings  you  the  closer.  And  when  you 
go  from  me,  Ben,  there's  something  in  me,  I  don't 
know  what  —  something,  like  Aunt  Matoaca  in  my 
blood  —  that  rises  up  and  rebels.  If  things  had  gone 
on  like  that,  if  you  hadn't  come  back,  I  should  have 
grown  hard  and  indifferent.  I  should  have  found 
some  other  interest." 

^^Some  other  interest?"  I  repeated,  while  my 
heart  throbbed  as  if  a  spasm  of  memory  contracted 
it. 

^^Oh,  of  course,  I  don't  know  now  just  what  I  mean 
—  but  when  I  look  back,  I  realise  that  I  couldn't  have 
stood  many  years  like  that  with  nothing  to  fill  them. 
I'd  have  done  something  desperate,  if  it  was  only 
going  over  gates  after  Bonny.  There's  one  thing  they 
taught  me,  though,  Ben,"  she  added,  ''and  that  is  that 
poor  Aunt  Matoaca  was  right." 

'^Right  in  what,  Sally?" 

''Right  in  believing  that  women  must  have  larger 
lives  —  that  they  mustn't  be  expected  to  feed  always 
upon  their  hearts.  You  tell  them  to  let  love  fill  their 
lives,  and  then  when  the  lives  are  swept  bare  and  clean 
of  ever}^hing  else,  in  place  of  love  you  leave  mere 
vacancy  —  just  mere  vacancy  and  nothing  but  that. 
How  can  thev  fill  their  hves  with  love  when  love  isn't 


THE   DEEPEST   SHADOW  399 

there  —  when  it's  off  in  the  stock  market  or  the  rail- 
road, or  wherever  its  practical  affairs  may  be  ?  '^ 

''But  it  comes  back  in  the  evening." 

''Yes,  it  comes  back  in  the  evening  and  falls  asleep 
over  its  cigar." 

''Well,  youVe  got  me  now,"  I  responded  cheerfully, 
"there's  no  doubt  of  that,  you've  got  me  now." 

"That's  why  I'm  getting  well.  How  delicious  the 
pines  are  !  and  look  at  the  red-bud  flowering  there  over 
the  fence  !  It  may  be  wicked  of  me,  but,  do  you  know 
—  I've  never  been  really  able  to  regret  that  you  lost 
your  money." 

"It  is  rather  wicked,  dear,  to  rejoice  in  my  misery." 

"I  didn't  say  I  'rejoiced'  —  only  that  I  couldn't 
regret.  How  can  I  regret  it  when  the  money  came  so 
between  us?  " 

"But  it  didn't,  Sally,  if  you  could  only  understand! 
I  loved  you  just  as  much  all  that  time  as  I  do  now." 

"But  how  was  I  to  be  sure,  when  you  didn't  want 
to  be  with  me?" 

"I  did  want  to  be  with  you  —  only  there  was  always 
something  else  that  had  to  be  done." 

"And  the  something  else  came  always  before  me. 
But  my  life,  you  see,  was  swept  bare  and  clean  of  every- 
thing except  you." 

"I  had  to  work,  Sally,  I  had  to  follow  my  am- 
bition." 

"You  work  now,  but  it  is  different.  I  don't  mind 
this  because  it  isn't  working  with  madness.  Just  as 
you  felt  that  you  wanted  your  ambition,  Ben,  I  felt 
that  I  wanted  love.  I  was  made  so,  I  can't  help  it. 
Like  Aunt  Matoaca,  my  life  has  been  swept  and  gar- 


400  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

nished  for  that  one  guest,  and  if  it  were  ever  to  fail  me, 
I'd  —  I'd  go  wild  like  Aunt  Matoaca,  I  suppose." 

A  red  bird  flew  out  of  the  pines  across  the  road,  and 
lifting  her  eyes,  she  followed  its  flight  with  a  look  in 
which  there  was  a  curious  blending  of  sadness  with 
passion.  The  truth  of  her  words  came  home  to  me, 
with  a  quiver  of  apprehension,  while  I  looked  at  her 
face,  and  by  some  curious  freak  of  memory  there 
flashed  before  me  the  image  of  George  Bolingbroke  as 
he  had  bent  over  to  lay  the  blossom  of  sweet  alyssum 
beside  her  plate.  In  all  those  months  George,  not  I, 
had  been  there,  I  remembered,  and  some  fierce  resent- 
ment, w^hich  was  half  jealousy,  half  remorse,  made  m.e 
answer  her  almost  with  violence  as  my  arm  went  about 
her. 

'^But  you  had  the  big  things  always,  and  it  is  the  big 
things  that  count  in  the  end." 

'^Yes,  the  big  things  count  in  the  end.  I  used  to  tell 
myself  that  when  you  forgot  all  the  anniversaries.  You 
remember  them  now." 

^'I  have  time  to  think  now,  then  I  hadn't."  As  I 
uttered  the  words  I  was  conscious  of  a  sudden  depres- 
sion, of  a  poignant  realisation  of  what  this  ^^time  to 
think"  signified  in  my  life.  The  smart  of  my  failure 
was  still  there,  and  I  had  known  hours  of  late  when 
my  balked  ambition  was  like  a  wild  thing  crying  for 
freedom  Tvdthin  me.  The  old  lust  of  power,  the  passion 
for  supremacy,  still  haunted  my  dreams,  or  came  back 
to  me  at  moments  like  this,  when  I  drove  with  Sally 
through  the  restless  pines,  and  smelt  those  vague, 
sweet  scents  of  the  spring,  which  stirred  something 
primitive  and  male  in  my  heart.     The  fighter  and  the 


THE   DEEPEST   SHADOW  401 

dreamer,  having  fought  out  their  racial  battle  to  a 
finish,  were  now  merged  into  one. 

We  drove  home  slowly,  the  lights  of  the  little  South- 
ern village  shining  brightly  through  a  cloudless  at- 
mosphere ahead  —  and  the  hghts,  like  the  spring  scents 
and  the  restless  soughing  of  the  pines,  deepened  the 
sense  of  failure,  of  incompleteness,  from  which  I  suf- 
fered. My  career  showed  to  me  as  suddenly  cut  off 
and  broken,  hke  a  road  the  making  of  which  has 
stopped  short  halfway  up  a  hill.  Did  she  discern  this 
restlessness  in  me,  I  wondered,  this  ceaseless  ache 
which  resembled  the  ache  of  muscles  that  have  been 
long  unused  ? 

After  this  the  months  slipped  quietly  by,  one  placid 
week  succeeding  another  in  a  serene  and  cloudless 
monotony.  Sally  had  few  friends,  there  were  no 
women  of  her  own  social  position  in  the  place ;  yet  she 
was  never  lonely,  never  bored,  never  in  search  of  dis- 
traction. 

'^I  love  it  here,  Ben,"  she  said  once,  ^^it  is  so  peace- 
ful, just  you  and  I." 

^^  You'd  tire  of  it  before  long,  and  youll  be  glad 
enough  to  go  back  to  Richmond  when  next  spring 
comes.'' 

At  the  time  she  did  not  protest,  but  when  the  follow- 
ing spring  began  to  unfold,  and  we  prepared  to  return 
to  Virginia  in  May,  there  was  something  pensive  and 
wistful  in  her  parting  from  the  little  village  and  from 
the  people  who  had  been  kind  to  her  in  the  year  she 
had  spent  there.  We  had  taken  several  rooms  in  the 
house  of  Dr.  Theophilus,  who  was  supported  in  his 
prodigality  in  roses  only  by  the   strenuous  pickling 

2d 


402  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

and  preserving  of  Mrs.  Clay;  and  as  we  drove,  on  a 
warm  May  afternoon,  up  the  familiar  street  from  the 
station,  I  tried  in  vain  to  arouse  in  her  some  of  the 
interest,  the  animation,  that  she  had  lost. 

^^ You'll  be  glad  to  see  the  doctor  and  Bonny  and 
George,''  I  said. 

^^Yes,  I'll  be  glad  to  see  the  doctor  and  Bonny  and 
George.  There  is  the  house  now,  and  look,  the  doc- 
tor is  in  his  garden." 

He  had  seen  us  before  she  spoke,  for  glancing  up 
meditatively  from  working  a  bed  of  bleeding  hearts 
near  the  gate,  his  dim  old  eyes,  over  their  lowered  spec- 
tacles, had  been  attracted  to  the  approaching  carriage. 
Rising  to  his  feet,  he  came  rapidly  to  the  pavement,  his 
trowel  still  in  hand,  his  outstretched  arms  trembling 
with  pleasure. 

^^Well,  well,  so  here  you  are.  It's  good  to  see  you. 
Tina,  they  have  come  sooner  than  we  expected  them. 
Moses  "  (to  a  little  negro,  who  appeared  from  behind 
the  currant  bushes,  where  he  had  been  digging),  ^Hake 
the  bags  upstairs  to  the  front  rooms  and  tell  your  Miss 
Tina  that  they  have  come  sooner  than  we  expected 
them." 

As  Moses  darted  off  on  his  errand,  in  which  he  was 
assisted  by  the  negro  coachman.  Dr.  Theophilus  led  us 
back  into  the  garden,  and  placed  Sally  in  a  low  canvas 
chair,  which  he  had  brought  from  the  porch  to  a  shady 
spot  between  a  gorgeous  giant  of  battle  rose-bush  and 
a  bed  of  bleeding  hearts  in  full  bloom. 

^Tome  and  sit  down,  my  dear,  come  and  sit  down," 
he  repeated,  fussing  about  her.  ^^Tina  will  give  you  a 
cup  of  tea  out  here  before  you  go  to  your  rooms,  and 


THE    DEEPEST    SHADOW  403 

Ben  and  I  ^dll  take  our  juleps  before  supper.  I\^e 
been  working  in  my  garden,  you  see ;  there's  nothing 
so  satisfying  in  old  age  as  a  taste  for  flowers.  It's  more 
absorbing  than  chess,  as  I  tell  George  —  old  George,  I 
mean  —  and  it's  more  soothing  than  children.  Were 
you  far  enough  South,  my  dear,  to  see  the  yellow^  jessa- 
mine grow  wild  ?  They  tell  me,  too,  that  the  Marshal 
Niel  rose  runs  there  up  to  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  With 
us  it  is  a  very  delicate  rose.  I  have  never  been  able  to 
do  anything  with  it,  —  but  I  have  had  a  great  success 
this  year  with  my  bleeding  hearts,  you  will  notice. 
Ah,  there's  Tina !  So  you  see,  Tina,  here  they  are. 
They  came  sooner  than  we  expected." 

From  the  low  white  porch,  under  a  bower  of  honey- 
suckle, Mrs.  Clay  appeared,  with  a  cup  of  tea  and  a 
silver  basket  of  sponge  snowballs  w^hich  she  placed 
before  Sally  on  a  small  green  table;  and  immediately 
a  troop  of  slate-coloured  pigeons  fluttered  from  the 
mimosa  tree  and  the  clipped  yew  at  the  end  of  the  gar- 
den, and  began  pecking  greedily  in  the  gravelled  walk. 

^^I'm  glad  you've  come,  my  dears,"  remarked  the  old 
lady  in  her  brusque,  honest  manner,  '^and  I  hope  to 
heaven  that  you  will  be  able  to  take  Theophilus's  mind 
off  his  flowers.  I  declare  he  has  grown  so  besotted 
about  them  that  I  believe  he'd  sell  the  very  clothes  off 
his  back  to  buy  a  new  variety  of  rose  or  lily.  Only  a 
week  ago  he  took  back  a  dozen  socks  I  had  given  him 
because  he  said  he'd  rather  have  the  money  to  spend  in 
a  strange  kind  of  iris  he'd  just  heard  of." 

'^A  most  remarkable  plant,"  observed  the  doctor, 
with  enthusiasm,  '^the  peculiarity  of  which  is  that  it  is 
smaller  and  less  attractive  to  the  vulgar  eye  than  the 


404  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

common  iris,  of  which  I  have  a  great  number  growing 
at  the  end  of  the  garden.  Don't  listen  to  Tina,  my 
children,  she's  a  cynic,  and  no  cynic  can  understand 
the  philosophy  of  gardening.  It  was  one  of  the  wisest 
of  men,  though  a  trifle  unorthodox,  I  admit,  who  ad- 
vised us  to  cultivate  our  garden.  A  pessimist  he  may 
have  been  before  he  took  up  the  trowel,  but  a  cynic  — 
never." 

'^I  am  not  complaining  of  the  trowel,  Theophilus,'' 
observed  Mrs.  Clay,  ^Hhough  when  it  comes  to  that  I 
don't  see  w^hy  a  trowel  and  a  bed  of  roses  is  any  more 
philosophic  than  a  ladle  and  a  kettle  of  pickles." 

^^ Perhaps  not,  Tina,  perhaps  not,"  chuckled  the 
doctor,  ^^but  yours  is  a  practical  mind,  and  there's 
nothing,  I've  always  said,  like  a  practical  mind  for 
seeing  things  crooked.  It  suits  a  crooked  world,  I 
suppose,  and  that's  why  it  usually  manages  to  get  on 
so  well  in  it." 

'^And  I'd  like  to  know  how  you  see  things,  The- 
ophilus,"  sniffed  Mrs.  Clay,  whose  temper  was  rising. 

^^I  see  them  as  they  are,  Tina,  which  isn't  in  the 
very  least  as  they  appear,"  rejoined  the  good  man, 
unruffled. 

He  bent  forward,  made  a  lunge  with  his  trowel  at  a 
solitary  blade  of  grass  growing  in  the  bed  of  bleeding 
hearts,  and  after  uprooting  it,  returned  with  a  tranquil 
face  to  his  garden  chair. 

But  Mrs.  Clay,  having,  as  he  had  said,  a  practical 
mind,  merely  sniffed  while  she  wiped  off  the  small 
green  table  with  a  red-bordered  napkin  and  scattered 
the  crumbs  of  sponge-cake  to  the  greedy  slate-coloured 
pigeons. 


THE   DEEPEST    SHADOW  405 

^'If  I  judged  you  by  what  you  appear,  Theophilus," 
she  retorted,  crushingly,  ^^I  should  have  judged  you 
for  a  fool  on  the  day  you  were  born." 

This  sally,  which  was  delivered  mth  spirit,  afforded 
the  doctor  an  evident  relish. 

''If  you  knew  your  Juvenal,  my  dear,^'  he  responded, 
with  perfect  good  humour,  ''you  would  remember: 
Fronti  nulla  fides ^ 

Rising  from  his  seat,  he  stooped  fondly  over  the  bed 
of  bleeding  hearts,  and  gathering  a  few  blossoms, 
presented  them  to  Sally,  with  a  courtly  bow. 

"A  favourite  flower  of  mine.  My  poor  mother  was 
always  very  partial  to  it,''  he  remarked. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

I   COME    TO    THE    SURFACE 

It  was  a  bright  June  day,  I  remember,  when  I  came 
to  the  surface  again,  and  saw  clear  sky  for  the  first 
time  for  more  than  two  years.  I  had  entered  the 
office  a  little  late,  and  the  General  had  greeted  me  with 
an  outstretched  hand  in  which  I  felt  the  grip  of  the 
bones  through  the  flabby  flesh. 

^'Look  here,  Ben,  have  you  kept  control  of  the  West 
Virginia  and  Wyanoke  ?  ^'  he  enquired,  and  I  saw  the 
pupils  of  his  eyes  contract  to  fine  points  of  steel,  as 
they  did  when  he  meant  business. 

^'Nobody  wanted  it.  General.  I  still  own  control  — 
or  rather  I  still  practically  own  the  road.^' 

^^Well,  take  my  advice  and  don't  sell  to  the  first 
man  that  asks  you,  even  if  he  comes  from  the  South 
Midland.  IVe  just  heard  that  they've  been  tapping 
those  undeveloped  coal  fields  at  Wyanoke,  and  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  if  they  turned  out,  after  all,  to 
be  the  richest  in  West  Virginia." 

It  was  then  that  I  saw  clear  sky. 

^'I'll  hold  on,  General,  as  long  as  you  say,"  I  re- 
plied. ''Meanwhile,  I'll  run  out  there  and  have  a  look." 

'^Oh,  have  a  look  by  all  means.  I  say,  Ben,"  he 
added  after  a  minute,  with  a  worried  expression  in  his 
face,  ''have  you  heard  about  the  trouble  that  old  fool 
Theophilus  has  been  getting  into?     Mark  my  words, 

406 


I   COME    TO    THE    SURFACE  •    407 

before  he  dies,  he'll  land  his  sister  in  the  poorhouse,  as 
sure  as  I  sit  here.  Garden  needed  moisture^  he  said, 
couldn't  raise  some  of  those  scraggy,  new-fangled 
things  that  nobody  can  pronounce  the  names  of  except 
himself,  so  he  went  to  work  and  had  pipes  laid  from 
one  end  to  the  other.  When  the  bill  came  in  there  was 
no  way  to  pay  it  except  by  mortgaging  his  house,  so 
he's  gone  and  mortgaged  it.  Mrs.  Clay,  poor  lady, 
came  to  me  on  the  point  of  tears  —  she'll  be  in  the 
poorhouse  yet,  I  was  obliged  to  tell  her  so  —  and  en- 
treated me  to  make  an  effort  to  restrain  Theophilus. 
'I  try  to  keep  the  catalogues  from  reaching  him,'  she 
said,  ^but  sometimes  the  postman  slips  in  without 
my  seeing  him,  and  then  he's  sure  to  deliver  one. 
Whenever  Theophilus  reads  about  any  strange  speci- 
men, or  any  hybridising  nonsense  that  nobody  heard  of 
when  I  was  young,  he  seems  to  go  completely  out  of  his 
head,  and  the  worst  of  'em  is,'  she  added,"  concluded 
the  General,  chuckling  under  his  breath,  "'there  isn't 
a  single  pretty,  sweet-smelling  flower  in  the  lot.'" 

^'T'm  awfully  sorry  about  the  house.  General.  Isn't 
there  some  way  of  curbing  him?" 

'^I  never  saw  the  bit  yet  that  could  curb  an  old  fool," 
replied  the  great  man,  indignantly ;  "the  next  thing  his 
roof  will  be  sold  over  his  head,  and  they'll  go  to  the 
poorhouse,  that's  what  I  told  Mrs.  Clay.  Poor  lady, 
she  was  really  in  a  terrible  state  of  mind." 

"Surely  you  won't  let  it  come  to  that.  Wait  till 
these  dreamed-of  coal  fields  materialise  and  I'll  take 
over  that  mortgage." 

The  General's  lower  lip  shot  out  with  a  sulky  and 
forbidding  expression. 


408  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''The  best  thing  that  could  happen  to  the  old  fool 
would  be  to  have  his  house  sold  above  him,  and  by  Jove, 
if  he  doesn't  cease  his  extravagance,  I'll  stand  off  and 
let  them  do  it  as  sure  as  my  name  is  George  Boling- 
broke.  What  Theophilus  needs/'  he  concluded  an- 
grily, ''is  discipline." 

"It's  too  late  to  begin  to  discipline  a  man  of  over 
eighty." 

"No,  it  ain't,"  retorted  the  General;  "it's  never  too 
late.  If  it  doesn't  do  him  any  good  in  this  world,  it 
will  be  sure  to  benefit  him  in  the  next.  He's  entirely 
too  opinionated,  that's  the  trouble  with  him.  Do 
you  remember  the  way  he  sat  up  over  there  on  Church 
Hill,  and  tried  to  beat  me  down  that  Robert  Carring- 
ton  lived  inBushrod's  house,  and  that  he'd  attended  him 
there  in  his  last  illness  ?  As  if  I  didn't  know  Bushrod 
Carrington  as  well  as  my  own  brother.  Got  all  his 
clothes  in  Paris.  Can  see  him  now  as  he  used  to  come 
to  church  in  one  of  his  waistcoats  of  peachblow  brocade. 
Yet  you  heard  Theophilus  stick  out  against  me. 
Wouldn't  give  in  even  when  I  offered  to  take  him 
straight  to  Bushrod's  grave  in  Saint  John's  Churchyard, 
where  I  had  helped  to  lay  him.  That's  at  the  back 
of  the  whole  thing,  I  tell  you.  If  Theophilus  had  had  a 
little  discipline,  this  would  never  have  happened." 

"All  the  same  I  hope  you  won't  let  it  come  to  a  sale," 
I  responded,  as  a  bunch  of  telegrams  was  brought  to 
him,  and  we  settled  down  to  our  morning's  work. 

In  the  afternoon  when  I  went  back  to  the  doctor's,  I 
found  Sally  in  the  low  canvas  chair  between  the  giant- 
of-battle  rose-bush  and  the  bleeding  hearts,  with  George 
Bolingbroke  on  the  ground  at  her  feet,  reading  to  her, 


I   COME   TO    THE   SURFACE  409 

I  noticed  at  a  glance,  out  of  a  book  of  poems.  George 
hated  poetry  —  I  had  never  forgotten  his  contemptuous 
boyish  attitude  toward  Latin  —  and  the  sight  of  him 
stretched  there,  his  handsome  figure  at  full  length,  his 
impassive  face  flushed  with  a  fine  colour,  produced  in 
me  a  curious  irritation,  which  sounded  in  my  voice  w^hen 
I  spoke. 

^^I  thought  you  scorned  literature,  George.  Are 
you  acting  the  part  of  a  gay  deceiver  ?  " 

^^Oh,  it  goes  well  on  a  day  like  this,''  he  rejoined  in 
his  amiable  drawling  manner;  ^Hhe  doctor  has  been 
quoting  his  favourite  verse  of  Horace  to  us.  He  has  had 
trouble  with  his  hybridising  or  something,  so  he  tells 
us  —  what  is  it,  doctor?     I'm  no  good  at  Latin." 

Dr.  Theophilus,  who  w^as  planting  oysters  at  the 
roots  of  a  calla  lily,  having  discovered,  as  he  repeatedly 
informed  us,  that  such  treatment  increased  the  number 
and  size  of  the  blossoms,  raised  his  fine  old  head,  and 
stood  up  after  wiping  his  trowel  on  the  trimly  mown 
grass  in  the  border. 

^'Aequam  memento  rebus  in  arduis  servare  mentem,^^ 
he  replied,  rolling  the  Latin  words  luxuriously  on  his 
tongue,  as  if  he  relished  the  flavour.  ^^ That  verse  of 
the  poet  has  sustained  me  in  many  and  varied  afflic- 
tions. Not  to  know  it  is  to  dispense  with  an  unfailing 
source  of  consolation  in  trouble.  When  using  it  at  a 
patient's  bedside,  I  have  found  that  it  invariably 
acted  as  a  sedative  to  an  excited  mind.  I  sometimes 
think,"  he  added  gently,  ^^that  if  Tina  had  not  been 
ignorant  of  Latin,  she  would  have  had  a  —  a  less 
practical  temper." 

Picking  up  the  trowel,  which  he  had  laid  on  the  grass, 


410  THE   ROMAJN'CE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

he  returned  with  a  calm  soul  to  his  difficulties,  while 
Sally,  looking  up  at  me  with  anxious  eyes,  said :  — 

''Something  has  happened,  Ben.     What  is  it?'' 

I  broke  into  a  laugh.  ''Only  that  that  little  dead- 
beat  road  in  West  Virginia  may  restore  my  fortune, 
after  all,''  I  replied. 

The  next  day  I  went  to  Wyanoke  and  reorganised  the 
affau-s  of  the  little  road.  Shortly  afterwards  orders 
for  freight  cars  came  in  faster  than  we  were  able  to 
supply  them,  and  we  called  at  once  on  the  cars  of  the 
Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic. 

"If  you  weren't  a  friend,  this  would  be  a  mighty  good 
chance  to  squeeze  you,"  remarked  the  General;  "we 
could  keep  your  cars  back  until  we'd  clean  squelched 
your  traffic,  and  then  buy  the  little  road  up  for  a  song. 
It's  business,  but  it  isn't  fair,  and  I'll  be  blamed  if  I'm 
going  to  squelch  a  friend." 

He  did  not  squelch  us,  being  as  good  as  his  word ;  the 
undeveloped  coal  fields  developed  amazingly  and  the 
result  was  that  before  the  year  was  over,  I  had  sold 
the  little  road  at  my  own  price  to  the  big  one.  Then 
I  stood  up  and  drew  breath,  like  a  man  released  from 
the  weight  of  irons. 

"We  can  go  into  our  own  home,"  I  said  joyfully  to 
Sally.  "In  a  year  or  two,  if  all  goes  well,  and  I  work 
hard,  we'll  be  back  again  where  we  were." 

"Where  we  were?"  she  repeated,  and  there  was,  I 
thought,  a  listless  note  in  her  voice. 

"Doesn't  it  make  you  happy?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  I'm  glad,  glad  the  debt  is  gone,  and  now  you'll 
look  young  and  splendid  again,  won't  you?" 

"I'll  try  hard  if  you  want  me  to." 


I   COME   TO   THE   SURFACE  411 

''I  do  want  you  to/'  she  answered,  looking  up  at  me 
with  a  smile. 

The  window  was  open,  and  a  flood  of  sunshine  fell  on 
her  pale  brown  hair,  as  it  rested  against  the  high  arm 
of  a  chintz-covered  sofa.  Her  hand,  small  and  child- 
like, though  less  round  and  soft  than  it  had  been  two 
years  ago,  caressed  my  cheek  when  I  bent  over  her. 
She  was  well  again,  she  was  blooming,  but  the  bloom 
was  paler  and  more  delicate,  and  there  was  a  fragility 
in  her  appearance  which  was  a  new  and  disturbing  sign 
of  diminished  strength.  Would  she  ever,  even  when 
cradled  in  luxuries,  recover  her  buoyant  health,  her 
sparkling  vitality,  I  wondered. 

The  old  Bland  house,  with  the  two  great  sycamores 
growing  beside  it,  was  for  sale ;  and  thinking  to  please 
Sally,  I  bought  it  without  her  knowledge,  filled,  as  it 
was,  with  the  Bland  and  Fairfax  furniture,  which  had 
surrounded  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss  Matoaca.  On  the 
day  some  eight  or  nine  months  later  that  we  moved 
into  it  the  s3Tamores  were  budding,  and  there  were 
faint  spring  scents  in  the  air. 

^^This  is  where  3^ou  belong.  This  is  home  to  you,'' 
I  said  as  we  stood  on  the  wide  porch  at  the  back,  and 
looked  down  on  the  garden.  ^^You  will  be  happy 
here,  dearest." 

^^Oh,  yes,  I'll  be  happy  here.'' 

^^It  won't  be  so  hard  for  you  when  I'm  obliged  to 
leave  3"ou  alone.  I'm  sorry  I've  had  to  be  away  so 
much  of  late.     Have  you  been  lonely?" 

"I've  taken  up  riding  again.  George  has  found  me 
a  new  horse,  a  beauty.  To-morrow  I  shall  follow  the 
hounds  with  Bonny." 


412  THE   ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''Oh,  be  careful,  Sally,  promise  me  that  you  will  be 
careful.'^ 

She  turned  with  a  laugh  that  sounded  a  little  reckless. 

''There's  no  pleasure  in  being  careful,  and  I'm  seek- 
ing pleasure,"  she  answered. 

The  next  morning  I  went  to  New  York  for  a  couple 
of  days,  and  when  I  returned  late  one  afternoon,  I 
found  Sally,  in  her  riding  habit,  pouring  tea  for  Bonny 
Marshall  and  George  Bolingbroke  in  the  drawing-room. 

I  was  very  tired,  my  mind  was  engrossed  in  business,  as 
it  had  been  engrossed  since  the  day  of  the  sale  of  the 
West  Virginia  and  Wyanoke  Railroad,  and  I  was  about 
to  pass  upstairs  to  my  dressing-room,  when  George, 
catching  sight  of  me,  called  to  me  to  come  in  and  exert 
my  powers  of  persuasion. 

"I'm  begging  Sally  to  sell  that  horse,  Beauchamp," 
he  said.  "She  tried  to  make  him  take  a  fence  this 
afternoon  and  he  balked  and  threw  her.  At  first  we 
were  frightened  out  of  our  wits,  but  she  got  up  laughing 
and  insisted  upon  mounting  him  again  on  the  spot." 

"Of  course  you  didn't  let  her,"  I  retorted,  with 
anger. 

"Let  her?  Great  Scott!  have  you  been  married 
to  a  Bland  for  nearly  eight  years  and  are  you  still 
saying,  'let  her'?" 

"I  mounted  and  rode  on  with  the  hunt,"  said  Sally, 
looking  at  me  with  shining  eyes  in  which  there  was  a 
defiant  and  reckless  expression.  "He  got  quite  away 
with  me,  but  I  held  on  and  came  in  at  the  death,  though 
without  a  hat.  Now  my  arms  are  so  sore  I  shall  hardly 
be  able  to  do  my  hair." 

"Of  course  you're  not    to    ride  that  horse   again, 


I   COME   TO    THE    SURFACE  413 

Sally,"  I  responded  sternly,  forgetting  my  dusty  clothes, 
forgetting  Bonny's  dancing  black  eyes  that  never  left 
my  face  while  I  stood  there. 

'^Of  course  I  am,  Ben,''  rejoined  Sally,  laughing, 
while  a  high  colour  rose  to  her  forehead.  ^^Of  course 
I'm  going  to  ride  him  to-morrow  afternoon  when  I  go 
out  with  Bonny." 

^^Ah,  don't,  please,"  entreated  Bonny,  in  evident 
distress;  ^'he's  really  an  ugly  brute,  you  know,  dear, 
if  he  is  so  beautiful." 

^^I  feel  awfully  mean  about  it,  Ben,"  said  George, 
'^because,  you  see,  I  got  him  for  her." 

^^And  you  got  him,"  I  retorted,  indignantly,  ^^  with- 
out knowing  evidently  a  thing  about  him." 

'^One  can  never  know  anything  about  a  brute  like 
that.  He  went  like  a  lamb  as  long  as  I  was  on  him, 
but  the  trouble  is  that  Sally  has  too  light  a  hand." 

^^He'd  be  all  right  with  me,"  remarked  Bonny, 
stretching  out  her  arm,  in  which  the  muscle  was  hard 
as  steel.     ^^See  what  a  grip  I  have." 

^^I'U  never  give  up,  I'll  never  give  up,"  said  Sally, 
and  though  she  uttered  the  words  with  gaiety,  the 
expression  of  defiance,  of  recklessness,  was  still  in  her 
eyes. 

When  George  and  Bonny  had  gone,  I  tried  in  vain  to 
shake  this  resolve,  which  had  in  it  something  of  the 
gentle,  yet  unconquerable,  obstinacy  of  Miss  Matoaca. 

'^Promise  me,  Sally,  that  you  will  not  attempt  to 
ride  that  horse  again,"  I  entreated. 

Turning  from  me,  she  walked  slowly  to  the  end  of 
the  room  and  bent  over  the  box  of  sweet  alyssum, 
which  still  blossomed  under    a    canary  cage   on  the 


414  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MA1> 

window-sill.  A  cedar  log  was  burning  on  the  andirons, 
and  the  red  light  of  the  flames  fell  on  the  tapestried 
furniture,  on  the  quaint  inlaid  spinet  in  one  corner, 
and  on  the  portrait  above  it  of  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss 
Matoaca  clasping  hands  under  a  garland  of  roses. 

'^Will  you  promise  me,  dearest?'^  I  asked  again, 
for  she  did  not  answer. 

Lifting  her  head  from  the  flowers,  she  stood  with  her 
hand  on  one  of  the  delicate  curtains,  and  her  figure, 
in  its  straight  black  habit,  drawn  very  erect. 

^^ril  ride  him,"  she  responded  quietly,  '^if  —  if 
he  kills  me." 

^^But  why  —  why  —  what  on  earth  is  the  use  of 
taking  so  great  a  risk?"  I  demanded. 

A  humorous  expression  shot  into  her  face,  and  I 
saw  her  full,  red  lips  grow  tremulous  with  laughter. 

^^That,"  she  answered,  after  a  moment,  ^4s  my 
ambition.  All  of  us  have  an  ambition,  you  know, 
women  as  well  as  men." 

^^\n  ambition?"  I  repeated,  and  looked  in  mysti- 
fication at  the  portrait  above  the  spinet. 

^^It  sounds  strange  to  you,"  she  went  on,  ^'but  why 
shouldn't  I  have  one?  I  was  a  very  promising  horse- 
woman before  my  marriage,  and  my  ambition  now  is 
to  —  to  go  after  Bonny.  Only  Bonny  says  I  can't," 
she  added  regretfully,  '^because  of  my  hands." 

'^They  are  too  small?" 

'^Too  small  and  too  light.     They  can't  hold  things." 

^'Well,  they've  managed  to  hold  one  at  any  rate," 
I  responded  gaily,  though  I  added  seriously  the  minute 
afterward,  ^^If  you'll  let  me  sell  that  horse,  darling, 
111  give  you  anything  on  God's  earth  that  you  want." 


I   COME   TO    THE   SURFACE  415 

'^But  suppose  I  don't  want  anything  on  God's 
earth  except  that  horse?'' 

^^ There's  no  sense  in  that/'  I  blurted  out,  in  bewilder- 
ment. ^'What  in  thunder  is  there  about  the  brute 
that  has  so  taken  your  fancy?" 

Her  hand  fell  from  the  curtain,  and  plucking  a  single 
blossom  of  sweet  alyssum,  she  came  back  to  the  hearth 
holding  it  to  her  lips. 

^^  He  has  taken  my  fancy/'  she  replied,  '^  because  he 
is  exciting  —  and  I  am  craving  excitement." 

^^But  you  never  used  to  want  excitement." 

^^  People  change,  all  the  poets  and  philosophers  tell 
us.  I've  wanted  it  very  badly  indeed  for  the  last 
six  or  eight  months." 

''Just  since  we've  recovered  our  money?" 

''Well,  one  can't  have  excitement  without  money, 
can  one?  It  costs  a  good  deal.  Beauchamp  sold  for 
sixteen  hundred  dollars." 

"He'd  sell  for  sixteen  to-morrow  if  I  had  my  way." 

"But  you  haven't.  He's  the  only  excitement  I  have 
and  I  mean  to  keep  him.  I  shall  go  out  again  with  the 
hounds  on  Saturday." 

"If  you  do,  you'll  make  me  miserable,  Sally.  I 
shan't  be  able  to  do  a  stroke  of  work." 

"Then  you'll  be  very  foolish,  Ben,"  she  responded, 
and  when  I  would  have  still  pressed  the  point,  she  ran 
out  of  the  room  with  the  remark  that  she  must  have  a 
hot  bath  before  dinner.  "If  I  don't  I'll  be  too  stiff 
to  mount,"  she  called  back  defiantly  as  she  went  up 
the  staircase. 

All  night  I  worried  over  the  supremacy  of  Beau- 
champ,  but  on  the  morrow  she  was  kept  in  bed  by  the 


416  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

results  of  her  fall,  and  before  she  was  up  again,  George 
had  spirited  the  horse  off  somewhere  to  a  farm  in  the 
country. 

^'I'd  have  turned  horse  thief  before  I'd  have  let  her 
get  on  him  again/'  he  said.  ^^I  bought  the  brute,  so 
I  had  the  best  right  to  dispose  of  him  as  I  wanted  to." 

^' Well,  I  hope  you'll  do  better  next  time,"  I  returned. 
^^  Sally  has  got  some  absurd  idea  in  her  head  about 
rivalUng  Bonny  Marshall,  but  she  never  will  because 
she  isn't  built  that  way." 

^'No,  she  isn't  built  that  way,"  he  agreed,  ^^and  I'm 
glad  of  it.  When  I  want  a  boy  I'd  rather  have  him  in 
breeches  than  in  skirts.     Is  she  out  of  bed  yet?" 

^^She  was  up  this  morning,  and  on  the  point  of  tele- 
phoning to  the  stables  when  I  left  the  house." 

He  laughed  softly.  ^^Well,  my  word  goes  at  the 
stables,"  he  rejoined,  '^so  you  needn't  worry.  I'll 
not  let  any  harm  come  to  her." 

The  tone  in  which  he  spoke,  pleasant  as  it  was, 
wounded  my  pride  of  possession  in  some  inexplicable 
manner.  Sally  was  safe !  It  was  all  taken  out  of 
my  hands,  and  the  only  thing  that  remained  for  me 
was  to  return  with  a  tranquil  mind  to  my  affairs.  In 
spite  of  myself  this  constant  beneficent  intervention 
of  George  in  my  life  fretted  my  temper.  If  he  would 
only  fail  sometimes !  If  he  would  only  make  a  mis- 
take !  If  he  would  only  attend  to  his  own  difficulties, 
and  leave  mine  to  go  wrong  if  they  pleased  ! 

This  was  on  my  way  up-town  in  the  afternoon,  and 
when  I  reached  home,  I  found  Sally  lying  on  a  couch 
in  her  upstairs  sitting-room,  with  an  uncut  novel  in 
her  hands. 


I   COME   TO    THE   SURFACE  417 

''Ben,  did  you  sell  Beauchamp?''  she  asked,  as  I 
entered,  and  her  tone  was  full  of  suppressed  resent- 
ment, of  indignant  surprise. 

''I'm  sorry  to  say  I  didn't,  dear,"  I  responded  cheer- 
fully, "for  I  should  certainly  have  done  so  if  George 
hadn't  been  too  quick  for  me." 

"It  was  George,  then,"  she  said,  and  her  voice  lost 
its  resentment. 

"Yes,  it  was  George  —  everything  is  George,"  I 
retorted,  in  an  irascible  tone. 

Her  eyebrows  arched,  not  playfully  as  they  were 
used  to  do,  but  in  surprise  or  perplexity. 

"He  has  been  very  good  to  me  all  my  life,"  she 
answered  quietly. 

"I  know,  I  know,"  I  said,  repenting  at  once  of  my 
tamper,  "and  if  you  want  another  horse,  Sally,  you 
shall  have  it  —  George  will  find  you  a  gentle  one  this 
time." 

She  shook  her  head,  smiling  a  little. 

"I  don't  want  a  gentle  one.  I  wanted  Beauchamp, 
and  since  he  has  gone  I  don't  think  I  care  to  ride  any 
more.  Bonny  is  right,  I  suppose,  I  could  never  keep 
up  with  her." 

"Just  as  you  like,  sweetheart,  but  for  my  part,  I 
feel  easier,  somehow,  when  you  don't  go  out  with  the 
hounds.  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't  do  such  rough 
riding." 

"That's  because  like  most  men  you  have  an  ideal  of 
a  'faire  ladye,^'^  she  answered,  mockingly.  "I'm  not 
sure,  however,  that  the  huntress  hasn't  the  best  of  it. 
What  an  empty  existence  the  'faire  ladye'  must  have 
led!" 

2£ 


418  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

At  first  I  thought  her  determination  was  uttered  in 
jest,  and  would  not  endure  through  the  night;  but  as 
the  weeks  and  the  months  went  by  and  she  still  re- 
fused to  consider  the  purchase  of  the  various  horses 
George  put  through  their  paces  before  her,  I  realised 
that  she  really  meant,  as  she  had  said,  to  give  up  her 
brief  dream  of  excelling  Bonny.  Then,  for  a  few  months 
in  the  spring  and  summer,  she  turned  to  gardening 
with  passion,  and  aided  by  Dr.  Theophilus  and  George, 
she  planted  a  cart-load  of  bulbs  in  our  square  of  ground 
at  the  back.  When  I  came  up  late  now,  I  would  find 
the  three  of  them  poring  over  flower  catalogues,  with 
gathered  brows  and  thoughtful,  enquiring  faces. 

^^There^s  nothing  like  a  la\^e  of  the  trowel  for  making 
friends,"  remarked  the  old  man,  one  May  afternoon, 
when  I  found  them  resting  from  their  labours  while 
they  drank  tea  on  the  porch;  ^'it's  a  pity  you  haven't 
time  to  take  it  up,  Ben.  Now,  young  George  there 
has  developed  a  most  extraordinary  talent  for  gar- 
dening that  he  never  knew  he  possessed  until  I  culti- 
vated it.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it  took  the  place  of  the 
horse  with  him  in  the  end.  What  do  you  say,  Sally?" 
he  added,  turning  to  where  Sally  and  George  were 
leaning  together  over  the  railing,  with  their  eyes  on  a 
bed  of  Oriental  poppies.  ^^I  was  telling  Ben  that  I 
shouldn't  wonder  if  George's  taste  for  flowers  would 
not  finally  triumph  over  his  fancy  for  the  horse." 

For  a  minute  Sally  did  not  look  round,  and  when  at 
last  she  turned,  her  face  wore  a  defiant  and  reckless 
expression,  as  it  had  done  that  afternoon  when  Beau- 
champ  had  thrown  her. 

''I'm  not   sure,  doctor,"  she  answered;   ''after  all 


I    COME   TO   THE   SURFACE  419 

flowers  are  tame  sport,  aren't  they?  And  George  is  like 
me  —  what  he  wants  is  excitement." 

^^I'm  sorry  to  hear  that,  my  dear,  a  gentle  and  quiet 
pursuit  is  a  source  of  happiness.  You  remember  what 
Horace  says  — " 

^'Ah,  I  know,  doctor,  but  did  even  Horace  remember 
what  he  said  while  he  was  young?" 

George  was  still  gazing  attentively  down  on  the  bed 
of  Oriental  poppies  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  and  though 
he  had  taken  no  part  in  the  conversation,  something 
in  his  back,  in  the  rigid  look  of  his  shoulders,  as  though 
his  muscles  were  drawn  and  tense,  made  me  say  sud- 
denly : 

''If  George  has  changed  his  hobby  from  horse-racing 
to  flowers,  I'll  begin  to  expect  the  General  to  start 
collecting  insects." 

At  this  George  wheeled  squarely  upon  me,  and  in 
his  dark,  flushed  face  there  was  the  set  look  of  a  man 
that  has  taken  a  high  jump. 

''It's  a  bad  plan  to  pin  all  your  pleasure  on  one 
thing,  Ben,"  he  said.  "If  you  put  all  your  eggs  in 
one  basket  you're  more  than  likely  to  stub  your  toe." 

"AVell,  a  good  deal  depends  upon  how  wisely  you 
may  have  chosen  your  pursuit,"  commented  the  doctor, 
pushing  his  spectacles  away  from  his  eyes  to  his  hair, 
which  was  still  thick  and  long;  "I  don't  believe  that  a 
man  can  make  a  mistake  in  selecting  either  flowers 
or  insects  for  his  life's  interest.  The  choice  between  the 
two  is  merely  a  question  of  temperament,  I  suppose, 
and,  though  I  myself  confess  to  a  leaning  toward  plants, 
I  ?t3riously  considered  once  devoting  my  declining  years 
to   the   study   of   the   habits    of   beetles.     Your   sug' 


420  THE   KOMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

gestion  as  to  George,  however,  —  old  George,  I  am 
alluding  to,  —  is  a  capital  one,  and  I  shall  call  his  atten- 
tion to  it  the  next  time  I  see  him.  He  couldn^t  do 
better,  I  am  persuaded,  than  bend  his  remaining  ener- 
gies in  the  direction  of  insects." 

He  paused  to  drink  his  tea,  nodding  gently  over  the 
rim  of  his  cup  to  Bonny  Marshall  and  Bessy  Dandridge, 
who  came  through  one  of  the  long  windows  out  upon 
the  porch. 

^^So  you've  really  stopped  for  a  minute,''  remarked 
Bonny  merrily,  swinging  her  floating  silk  train  as  if  it 
were  the  skirt  of  a  riding  habit,  ^'and  even  Ben  has 
fallen  out  of  the  race  long  enough  to  get  a  glimpse  of 
his  wife.  Have  stocks  tripped  him  up  again,  poor 
fellow?  Do  you  know,  Sally,  it's  perfectly  scandalous 
the  way  you  are  never  seen  hi  public  together.  At  the 
reception  at  the  Governor's  the  other  night,  one  of 
those  strange  men  from  New  York  asked  me  if  George 
were  your  husband.  Now,  that's  what  I  call  positively 
improper  —  I  really  felt  the  atmosphere  of  the  divorce 
court  around  me  when  he  said  it  —  and  my  grand- 
mama  assures  me  that  if  such  a  thing  had  happened  to 
your  grandmama,  Caroline  Matilda  Fairfax,  she  would 
never  have  held  up  her  head  again.  ^But  neither 
morals  nor  manners  are  what  they  were  when  Caroline 
Matilda  and  I  were  young,'  she  added  regretfully, 
'and  it  is  due,  I  suppose,  to  the  war  and  to  the  in- 
trusion into  society  of  all  these  new  people  that  no  one 
ever  heard  of.'  When  I  mentioned  the  guests  at  the 
two  last  receptions  I'd  been  to,  if  you  will  believe  me, 
she  had  never  heard  of  a  single  name, — ^all  mush- 
rooms,' she  declared." 


I   COME    TO    THE    SURFACE  421 

Her  eyes,  dancing  roguishly,  met  mine  over  the  t^a- 
table,  and  a  bright  blush  instantly  overspread  her  face, 
as  if  a  rose-coloured  search-light  had  fallen  on  her. 

The  embarrassment  which  I  always  felt  in  her  pres- 
ence became  suddenly  as  acute  as  physical  soreness, 
and  the  blush  in  her  face  served  only  to  illuminate 
her  consciousness  of  my  difference,  of  my  roughness, 
of  the  fact  that  externally,  at  least,  I  had  never  managed 
to  shake  myself  free  from  a  resemblance  to  the  market 
boy  who  had  once  brought  his  basket  of  potatoes  to 
the  door  of  this  very  house.  The  '^magnificent  ani- 
mal,'' I  knew,  had  never  appealed  to  her  except  as  it 
was  represented  in  horse-flesh;  and  yet  the  '^ mag- 
nificent animar'  was  what  in  her  eyes  I  must  ever  re- 
main. I  looked  at  George,  leaning  against  a  white 
column,  and  his  appearance  of  perfect  self-sufficiency, 
his  air  of  needing  nothing,  changed  my  embarrassment 
into  a  smothered  sensation  of  anger.  And  as  in  the  old 
days  of  my  first  great  success,  this  anger  brought  with 
it,  through  some  curious  association  of  impulses,  a 
fierce,  almost  a  frenzied,  desire  for  achievement.  Here, 
in  the  little  world  of  tradition  and  sentiment,  I  might 
show  still  at  a  disadvantage,  but  outside,  in  the  open, 
I  could  respond  freely  to  the  lust  for  power,  to  the 
passion  for  supremacy,  which  stirred  my  blood.  Turn- 
ing, with  a  muttered  excuse  about  letters  to  read,  I 
went  into  the  house,  and  closed  my  study  door  behind 
me  with  a  sense  of  returning  to  a  friendly  and  familiar 
atmosphere. 

Through  the  rest  of  the  year  Sally  devoted  herself 
with  energy  to  the  cultivation  of  flowers ;  but  when  the 
following  spring  opened,  after  a  hard  winter,  she  seemed 


422  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

to  have  grown  listless  and  indifferent,  and  when  I 
spoke  of  the  garden,  she  merely  shook  her  head  and 
pointed  to  an  iinworked  border  at  the  foot  of  the  grey 
wall. 

^^I  can't  make  anything  grow,  Ben.  All  those  brown 
sticks  down  there  are  the  only  signs  of  the  bulbs  I 
set  out  last  autumn  with  my  own  hands.  Nothing 
comes  up  as  it  ought  to.'' 

^'Perhaps  you  need  pipes  like  the  doctor,"  I  sug- 
gested. 

^'Oh,  no,  that  would  uproot  the  old  shrubs,  and  be- 
sides, I  am  tired  of  it,  I  think." 

She  was  lying  on  the  couch  in  her  sitting-room, 
a  pile  of  novels  on  a  table  beside  her,  and  the  delicacy 
in  her  appearance,  the  transparent  fineness  of  her  fea- 
tures, of  her  hands,  awoke  in  me  the  feeling  of  anxiety 
I  had  felt  so  often  during  the  year  after  little  Ben- 
jamin's death. 

''I'm  sorry  I  can't  get  up  to  luncheon  now,  darling, 
but  we  are  making  a  big  railroad  deal.  What  have 
you  been  doing  all  day  long  by  yourself?" 

She  looked  up  at  me,  and  I  remembered  the  face  of 
Miss  Matoaca,  as  I  had  seen  it  against  the  red  fire- 
light on  the  afternoon  when  Sally  and  I  had  gone  in  to 
tell  her  of  our  engagement. 

'^I  didn't  go  out,"  she  answered.  ''It  was  raining 
so  hard  that  I  stayed  by  the  fire." 

''You've  been  lying  here  all  day  alone?" 

"Bonny  Page  came  in  for  a  few  minutes." 

"Have  you  read?" 

"No,  I've  been  thinking." 

"Thinking  of  what,  sweetheart?" 


I   COME    TO   THE    SURFACE  423 

'^Oh,  so  many  things.  You've  come  up  again, 
haven't  you,  Ben,  splendidly !  Luck  is  with  you, 
the  General  says,  and  whatever  you  touch  prospers. '^ 

^^Yes,  I've  come  up,  but  this  is  the  crisis.  If  I  slip 
now,  if  I  make  a  false  move,  if  I  draw^  out,  I'm  as  dead 
as  a  door-nail.  But  give  me  five  or  ten  years  of  hard 
work  and  breathless  thinking,  and  I'll  be  as  big  a  man 
as  the  General." 

^^As  the  General?'^  she  repeated  gently,  and  played 
with  the  petals  of  an  American  Beauty  rose  on  the  table 
beside  her. 

*' As  soon  as  I'm  secure,  as  soon  as  I  can  slacken  work 
a  bit,  I'm  going  to  cut  all  this  and  take  you  away. 
We'll  have  a  second  honeymoon  when  that  time  comes." 

^^In  five  or  ten  years?" 

^^ Perhaps  sooner.  Meanwhile,  isn't  there  something 
that  I  can  do  for  you?  Is  there  anything  on  God's 
earth  that  you  want?  Would  you  like  a  string  of 
pearls?" 

She  shook  her  head  with  a  laugh.  ^^No,  I  don't 
want  a  string  of  pearls.  Is  it  time  now  to  dress  for 
dinner?" 

'^ Would  you  mind  if  I  didn't  change,  dear?  I'm 
so  tired  that  I  shall  probably  fall  asleep  over  the 
dessert." 

An  evening  or  two  later,  when  I  came  up  after  seven 
o'clock,  I  thought  that  she  had  been  crying,  and  taking 
her  in  my  arms,  I  passionately  kissed  the  tear  marks 
away. 

'' There's  but  one  thing  to  do,  Sally.  You  must  go 
away.     What  do  you  say  to  Europe?" 

^' With  you?" 


424  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^'1  wish  to  heaven  it  could  be  with  me,  but  if  I 
shirk  this  deal  now,  I'm  done  for,  and  if  I  stick  it  out, 
it  may  mean  future  millions.  Why  not  ask  Bessy 
Dandridge?'^ 

'^I  don't  think  I  want  to  go  with  Bessy  Dandridge." 
Her  tone  troubled  me,  it  was  so  gentle,  so  reserved, 
and  walking  to  the  window,  I  stood  gazing  out  upon  the 
April  rain  that  dripped  softly  through  the  budding 
sycamores.  I  felt  that  I  ought  to  go,  and  yet  I  knew 
that  unless  I  gave  up  my  career,  it  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  railroad  deal  was,  as  I  had  said,  very 
important,  and  if  I  were  to  withdraw  from  it  now,  it 
would  probably  collapse  and  bring  down  on  me  the 
odium  of  my  associates.  After  my  desperate  failure 
of  less  than  five  years  ago,  I  was  just  recovering  my 
ground,  and  the  incidents  of  that  disaster  were  still  too 
recent  to  permit  me  to  breathe  freely.  My  name  had 
suffered  little  because  my  personal  tragedy  had  been 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  general  panic,  and  I  had,  in 
the  words  of  George  Bolingbroke,  ^^gone  to  smashes  with 
honour."  Yet  I  was  not  secure  now ;  I  had  not  reached 
the  top  of  the  ladder,  but  was  merely  mounting.  ^^It's 
for  Sally's  sake  that  I'm  doing  it,"  I  said  to  myself^ 
suddenly  comforted  by  the  reflection;  ^^ without  Sally 
the  whole  thing  might  go  to  ruin  and  I  wouldn't  hold 
up  my  hand.  But  I  must  make  her  proud  of  me. 
I  must  justify  her  choice  in  the  eyes  of  her  friends." 
And  the  balm  of  this  thought  seemed  to  lighten  my 
weight  of  trouble  and  to  appease  my  conscience.  ^^It 
isn't  as  if  I  were  doing  it  for  myself,  or  my  own  am- 
bition. I  am  really  doing  it  for  her  —  everything  is 
for  her.     If  I  can  hold  on  now,  in  a  few  years  I'll  give 


I   COME   TO   THE   SURFACE  425 

her  millions  to  spend."  Then  I  remembered  that  the 
last  time  I  had  gone  motoring  with  her  it  had  appeared 
to  do  her  good,  and  that  she  had  remarked  she  preferred 
a  car  with  a  red  lining. 

''I  tell  you  what,  sweetheart/^  I  said,  going  back 
to  her,  ^'as  I  can't  take  you  away,  111  buy  you  a  new 
motor  car  with  a  red  lining  and  I'll  take  you  out  every 
blessed  afternoon  I  can  get  off  from  the  office.  Youll 
like  that,  won't  you?"  I  asked  eagerly. 

''Yes,  I'll  like  that,"  she  replied,  with  an  effort  at 
animation,  while  she  bent  her  face  over  the  rose  in 
her  hand. 

A  week  later  I  bought  the  motor  car,  the  hand- 
somest I  could  find,  with  the  softest  red  lining;  and 
when  May  came,  I  went  out  with  her  whenever  I  could 
break  away  from  my  work.  But  the  pressure  was 
great,  the  General  was  failing  and  leaned  on  me,  and 
I  was  over  head  and  ears  in  a  dozen  outside  schemes 
that  needed  only  my  amazing  energy  to  push  them  to 
success.  Never  had  my  financial  insight  appeared  so 
infallible,  never  had  my  ''genius"  for  affairs  shone  so 
brilliantly.  The  years  of  poverty  had  increased,  not 
dissipated,  my  influence,  and  I  had  come  up  all  the 
stronger  for  the  experience  that  had  sent  me  down. 
The  lesson  that  a  weaker  man  might  have  succumbed 
beneath,  I  had  absorbed  into  myself,  and  was  now 
making  use  of  as  I  had  made  use  of  every  incident, 
bad  or  good,  in  my  life.  I  passed  on,  I  accumulated, 
but  I  did  not  squander.  Little  things,  as  well  as  great 
things,  served  me  for  material,  and  during  those  first 
years  of  my  recovery,  I  became  by  far  the  most  brilliant 
figure  in  my  world  of  finance.     "Pile  all  the  bu'sted 


426  THE   ROMANCE    OF    A   PLAIN   MAN 

stocks  in  the  market  on  his  shoulders,  and  he'll  still 
come  out  on  top/'  chuckled  the  General.  '^The  best 
thing  that  ever  happened  to  you,  Ben,  barring  the 
toting  of  potatoes,  was  the  blow  on  the  head  that  sent 
you  under  water.  A  little  fellow  would  have  drowned, 
but  you  knew  how  to  float." 

^^I'd  agree  with  you  about  its  being  the  best  thing, 
except  —  except  for  Sally.'' 

^^ What's  the  matter  with  Sally?  Is  she  going 
cracked?  You  know  I  always  said  she  was  the  image 
of  her  aunt  —  Miss  Matoaca  Bland." 

'^She  has  never  recovered.  Her  health  seems  to 
have  given  way." 

''She  needs  coddling,  that's  the  manner  of  women 
and  babies.  Do  you  coddle  her?  It's  worth  while, 
though  some  men  don't  know  how  to  do  it.  Lord, 
Lord,  I  remember  when  my  poor  mother  was  on  her 
death-bed  and  my  father  got  on  his  knees  and  asked 
her  if  he'd  been  a  good  husband  (she  was  his  third 
wife  and  died  of  her  tenth  child),  she  looked  at  him 
with  a  kind  of  gentle  resentment  and  replied:  'You 
were  a  saint,  I  suppose,  Samuel,  but  I'd  rather  have  had 
a  sinner  that  would  have  coddled  me.'  She  was  the 
prim,  flat-bosomed  type,  too,  just  like  Miss  Mitty  Bland, 
and  my  father  said  afterwards,  crying  like  a  baby, 
that  he  had  so  much  respect  for  her  he  would  as  soon 
have  thought  of  trying  to  coddle  a  Lombardy  poplar. 
Poplar  or  mimosa  tree,  I  tell  you,  they  are  all  made 
that  way,  every  last  one  of  them  —  and  nothing  on 
earth  made  poor  Miss  Matoaca  a  fire-eater  and  a  dis- 
turber of  the  peace  except  that  she  didn't  have  a  man 
to  coddle  her." 


I   COME    TO    THE    SURFACE  427 

'^I  give  Sally  everything  under  heaven  I  can  think 
of,  but  she  doesn't  appear  to  want  it." 

^'Keep  on  giving,  it's  the  only  way.  You'll  see  her 
begin  to  pick  up  presently  before  you  know  it.  They 
ain't  rational,  my  boy,  that's  the  whole  truth  about 
'em,  they  ain't  rational.  If  Miss  Matoaca  had  belonged 
to  a  rational  sex,  do  you  think  she'd  have  killed  her- 
self trying  to  get  on  an  equality  with  us  ?  You  can't 
make  a  pullet  into  a  rooster  by  teaching  it  to  crow, 
as  my  old  mammy  used  to  say."  For  a  minute  he  was 
silent,  and  appeared  to  be  meditating.  ^^I  tell  you 
what  I'll  do,  Ben,"  he  said  at  last,  with  a  flash  of  in- 
spiration, ''I'll  go  in  with  you  and  see  if  I  can't  cheer 
up  Sally  a  bit." 

When  we  reached  my  door,  he  let  the  reins  fall  over 
the  back  of  his  old  horse,  and  getting  out,  hobbled,  with 
my  assistance,  up-stairs,  and  into  Sally's  sitting-room, 
where  we  found  George  Bolingbroke,  looking  depressed 
and  sullen. 

She  was  charmingly  dressed,  as  usual,  and  as  the 
General  entered,  she  came  forward  to  meet  him  with 
the  gracious  manner  which  some  one  had  told  me  was 
a  part,  not  of  her  Bland,  but  of  her  Fairfax  inheritance. 
''That's  a  pretty  tea-gown  you've  got  on,"  observed 
the  great  man,  in  the  playful  tone  in  which  he  might 
have  remarked  to  a  baby  that  it  was  wearing  a  beauti- 
ful bib.  "You  haven't  been  paying  much  attention 
to  fripperies  of  late,  Ben  tells  me.  Have  you  seen  any 
hats  ?  I  don't  know  anything  better  for  a  woman's  low 
spirits,  my  dear,  than  a  trip  to  New  York  to  buy  a  hat." 

She  laughed  merrily,  while  her  eyes  met  George 
Bolingbroke's  over  the  General's  head. 


428  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''I  bought  six  hats  last  month/'  she  replied. 

'^And  you  didn't  feel  any  better?'' 

'^Not  permanently.  Then  Ben  got  me  a  diamond 
bracelet."  She  held  out  her  arm,  with  the  bracelet 
on  her  wrist,  which  looked  thin  and  transparent. 

The  General  bent  his  bald  head  over  the  trinket, 
which  he  examined  as  attentively  as  if  it  had  been  a 
report  of  the  Great  South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Rail- 
road. 

''Ben's  got  good  taste,"  he  observed ;  '^  that's  a  pretty 
bracelet." 

''Yes,  it's  a  pretty  bracelet." 

''But  that  didn't  make  you  feel  any  brighter?" 

"Oh,  I'm  well,"  she  responded,  laughing.  "I've 
just  been  telling  George  I'm  so  well  I'm  going  to  a  ball 
with  him." 

"To  a  ball,"  I  said ;  "are  you  strong  enough  for  that, 
Sally?" 

"I'm  quite  strong,  I'm  well,  I  feel  wildly  gay." 

"It's  the  best  thing  for  her,"  remarked  the  General. 
"Don't  stop  her,  Ben,  let  her  go." 

At  dinner  that  night,  in  a  gorgeous  lace  gown,  with 
pearls  on  her  throat  and  in  her  hair,  she  was  cheerful, 
animated,  almost,  as  she  had  said,  wildly  gay.  When 
Greorge  came  for  her,  I  put  her  into  the  carriage. 

"Are  you  all  right?"  I  asked  anxiously.  "Are  you 
sure  you  are  strong  enough,  Sally?" 

"Quite  strong.     What  will  you  do,  Ben?" 

"I've  got  to  work.  There  are  some  papers  to  draw 
up.     Don't  let  her  stay  late,  George." 

"Oh,  I'll  take  care  of  her,"  said  George.  "Good- 
night." 


I   COME   TO   THE   SURFACE  429 

She  leaned  out;  touching  my  hand.  ^^  You'll  be  in 
bed  when  I  come  back.     Good-night.'' 

The  carriage  rolled  off,  and  entering  the  house  I  went 
into  the  library,  where  I  worked  until  twelve  o'clock. 
Then  as  Sally  had  not  returned  and  I  had  a  hard  day 
ahead  of  me,  I  went  upstairs  to  bed. 

She  did  not  wake  me  when  she  came  in,  and  in  the 
morning  I  found  her  sleeping  quietly,  with  her  cheek 
pillowed  on  her  open  palm,  and  a  pensive  smile  on 
her  lips.  After  breakfast,  when  I  came  up  to  speak 
to  her  before  going  out,  she  was  sitting  up  in  bed,  in  a 
jacket  of  blue  satin  and  a  lace  cap,  drinking  her  coffee. 
^^Did  you  have  a  good  time?  "  I  asked,  kissing  her. 
^^  Already  you  look  better." 

^'I  danced  ever  so  many  dances.  Do  you  know^,  Ben, 
I  believe  it  was  diversion  I  needed.  I've  thought  too 
much  and  I'm  going  to  stop." 

^^ That's  right,  dance  on  if  it  helps  you." 
'^I  can't  get  that  year  on  Church  Hill  out  of  my  mind." 
'^Forget  it,  sweetheart,  it's  over;  forget  it." 
'^Yes,  it's  over,"  she  repeated,  and  then  as  she  lay 
back,    in  her  blue  satin   jacket,  on  the   embroidered 
pillows  and  smiled  up  at  me,  I  saw  in  her  face  a  reflec- 
tion of  the  faint  wonder  which  was  the  inherited  look  cf 
the  Blands  in  regarding  life. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE    GROWING    DISTANCE 

The  memory  of  this  look  was  with  me  as  I  went,  a 
little  later,  down  the  block  to  the  car  line,  but  meeting 
the  General  at  the  corner,  all  other  matters  were  crowded 
out  of  my  mind  by  the  gravity  of  the  news  he  leaned  out 
of  his  buggy  to  impart. 

''Well,  it's  come  at  last,  Ben,  just  as  I  said  it  would,'* 
he  remarked  cheerfuUy ;  ''Theophilus  is  to  be  sold  out 
at  four  o'clock  this  afternoon." 

''I'd  forgotten  all  about  it.  General,  but  do  you  really 
mean  you  will  let  it  come  to  a  public  auction?" 

"It's  the  only  way  on  God's  earth  to  stop  his  ex- 
travagance. Of  course  I'm  going  to  buy  the  house  in 
at  the  end.  I've  given  the  agent  orders.  Theophilus 
ain't  going  to  suffer,  but  he's  got  to  have  a  lesson  and 
I'm  the  only  one  who  can  teach  it.  A  little  judicious 
discipline  right  now  will  make  him  a  better  and  a 
happier  man  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He's  too 
opinionated,  that's  the  trouble  with  him  and  always 
has  been.  He's  got  some  absurd  idea  in  his  head  now 
that  I  ought  to  quit  the  railroad  and  begin  watching 
insects.  Actually  brought  me  a  microscope  and  some 
ants  in  a  little  box  that  he  had  had  sent  all  the  way  from 
California.  Wanted  me  to  build  'em  a  glass  house  in 
my  garden,  and  spend  my  time  looking  at  'em.     'Look 

430 


THE   GROWING    DISTANCE  431 

here,  Theophilus/  I  said,  'I  haven't  come  to  my  dotage 
yet,  and  when  I  get  there,  I'm  going  to  take  up  some- 
thing a  little  bigger  than  an  insect.  From  a  railroad  to 
an  ant  is  too  long  a  jump." 

^'But  this  auction.  General,  I'm  very  much  worried 
about  it.  You  know  I'd  always  intended  to  take  over 
that  mortgage,  but,  to  teU  the  truth,  it  escaped  my 
memory." 

^'Oh,  leave  that  to  me,  leave  that  to  me,"  responded 
the  great  man  serenely.  '^  Theophilus  ain't  going  to 
suffer,  but  a  little  discipline  won't  do  him  any  harm." 

His  plan  was  well  laid,  I  saw,  but  the  best-laid  plans, 
as  the  great  man  himself  might  have  informed  me,  are 
not  always  those  that  are  destined  to  reach  maturity. 
When  I  had  parted  from  him,  I  fell,  almost  uncon- 
sciously, to  scheming  on  my  own  account,  and  the 
result  was  that  before  going  into  my  office,  I  looked  up 
the  real  estate  agent  who  had  charge  of  the  auction,  and 
took  over  the  mortgage  which  too  great  an  indulgence 
in  roses  had  forced  upon  Dr.  Theophilus.  In  my  lunch- 
eon hour  I  rushed  up  to  the  house,  where  I  found  Mrs. 
Clay,  with  a  big  wooden  ladle  in  her  hand,  wandering 
distractedly  between  the  outside  kitchen  and  the  little 
garden,  where  the  doctor  was  placidly  spraying  his 
roses  with  a  solution  of  kerosene  oil. 

''I  knew  it  would  come,"  said  the  poor  lady,  in  tears ; 
''no  amount  of  preserves  and  pickles  could  support  the 
extravagance  of  Theophilus.  More  than  two  years  ago 
George  Bolingbroke  warned  me  that  I  should  end  my 
days  in  the  poorhouse,  and  it  has  come  at  last.  As  for 
Theophilus,  even  the  thought  of  the  poorhouse  does 
not  appear  to  disturb  him.     He  does  nothinor  but  walk 


432  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

around  and  repeat  some  foolish  Latin  verse  about 
-^quam  —  aequam  —  until  I  am  sick  of  the  very 
sound  —  " 

When  I  explained  to  her  that  the  auction  would  be 
postponed,  at  least  for  another  century,  she  recovered 
her  temper  and  her  spirit,  and  observed  emphatically 
that  she  hoped  the  lesson  would  do  Theophilus  good. 

^'May  I  go  out  to  him  now?'' 

''Oh,  yes,  you'll  find  him  somewhere  in  the  garden. 
He  has  just  been  in  with  a  watering-pot  to  ask  for 
kerosene  oil." 

In  the  centre  of  the  gravelled  walk,  between  the 
shining  rows  of  oyster  shells,  the  doctor  stood  energeti- 
cally spraying  his  roses.  At  the  sound  of  my  step  he 
looked  round  with  a  tranquil  face,  his  long  white  hair 
blowing  in  the  breeze  above  his  spectacles,  which  he 
wore,  as  usual  when  he  was  not  reading,  pushed  up  on 
his  forehead. 

''Ah,  Ben,  you  find  us  afflicted,  but  not  despondent," 
he  observed.  "Now  is  the  time,  as  I  just  remarked  to 
Tina  a  minute  ago,  to  prove  the  unfailing  support  of  a 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  of  the  poet  Horace,  ^quam 
memento  —  " 

"I'm  afraid,  doctor,  I  haven't  time  for  Horace,"  I 
returned,  ruthlessly  cutting  short  his  enjoyment, 
while  the  sonorous  sentence  still  rolled  in  his  mouth ; 
"but  I've  attended  to  this  affair  of  the  mortgage,  and 
you  shan't  be  bothered  again.  Why  on  earth  didn't 
you  come  to  me  sooner  about  it?" 

Bending  over,  he  plucked  a  rosebud  with  a  canker 
at  the  heart,  and  stood  meditatively  surveying  it. 
"An  Anna  von  Diesbach,"  he  observed,  "and  when 


THE   GROWDs'G   DISTANCE  433 

perfect  a  most  beautiful  rose.  The  truth  was,  my  boy, 
that  I  felt  a  delicacy  about  approaching  my  friends  in 
the  hour  of  my  misfortunes.  Old  George  I  did  go  to 
in  my  extremity,  but  I  fear,  Ben,  —  I  seriously  fear 
that  I  have  estranged  old  George  by  making  him  a  pres- 
ent of  a  little  box  of  ants.  He  imagines,  I  fancy,  that  I 
intended  a  reflection  upon  his  intelligence.  Because 
the  ant  is  small,  he  concludes,  unreasonably,  that  it  is 
unworthy.  On  the  contrary,  as  I  endeavoured  to  con- 
vince him,  it  possesses  a  degree  of  sagacity  and  fore- 
sight the  human  being  might  well  envy  —  '' 

''I  can't  stop  now,  doctor,  I'm  in  too  great  a  rush, 
but  remember,  if  you  ever  have  a  few  hundred  dollars 
you'd  hke  me  to  turn  over  for  you,  I'm  at  your  service. 
At  all  events,  preserve  your  calm  soul  and  leave  me  to 
contend  with  your  difficulties — " 

''The  word  ^ preserve,^  "  commented  the  doctor, 
'^ though  used  in  a  different  and  less  practical  sense, 
reminds  me  of  Tina.  She  has  sacrificed  her  peace  of 
mind  to  preserves,  as  I  told  her  this  morning.  Even  I 
should  find  it  impossible  to  maintain  an  equable 
character,  if  I  lived  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  stove  and 
devoted  my  energies  to  a  kettle.  One's  occupation  has, 
-^"ithout  doubt,  a  marked  influence  upon  one's  attitude 
towards  the  universe.  This  was  in  my  thoughts  entirely 
when  I  suggested  to  a  man  of  old  George's  headstrong 
and  undisciplined  nature  that  he  would  do  well  to  in- 
vestigate the  habits  of  a  sober  and  industrious  insect 
like  the  ant.  He  has  led  an  improvident  life,  and  I 
thought  that  as  he  neared  his  end,  whatever  would 
promote  a  philosophic  cast  of  mind  would  inevitably 
benefit  his  declining  years  —  ^' 

2f 


434  THE    ROMANCE    OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

^^He  doesn't  like  to  be  reminded  that  they  are  declin- 
ing, doctor,  that's  the  trouble,"  I  returned,  as  I  shook 
hands  hurriedly,  and  went  on  down  the  gravelled  walk 
between  the  oyster  shells  to  the  gate  that  opened, 
beyond  the  currant  bushes,  out  into  the  street. 

My  readjustment  of  the  doctor's  affairs  had  occupied 
no  small  part  of  my  w^orking  day,  and  it  was  even  later 
than  usual  w^hen  I  arrived  at  home,  too  tired  to  consider 
dressing  for  dinner.  At  the  door  old  Esdras  announced 
that  Sally  had  already  gone  to  dine  with  Bonny  Mar- 
shall, and  w^ould  go  to  the  theatre  aft€rwards. 

'^Was  she  alone,  Esdras?" 

^'Naw,  suh,  Marse  George  he  done  come  fur  her  en 
ca'ried  her  off." 

^'Well,  I'll  dine  just  as  I  am,  and  as  soon  as  it's 
ready." 

The  house  w^as  empty  and  deserted  without  Sally, 
and  the  perfume  of  a  mimosa  tree,  which  floated 
in  on  the  warm  breeze  as  I  entered  the  drawing-room, 
came  to  me  like  the  sweet,  vague  scent  of  her  hair  and 
her  gown.  A  dim  light  burned  under  a  pink  shade  in 
one  corner,  and  so  quiet  appeared  the  quaint  old  room, 
with  its  faded  cashmere  rugs  and  its  tapestried  furniture, 
that  the  eyes  of  the  painted  Blands  and  Fairfaxes 
seemed  alive  as  they  looked  down  on  me  from  the  high 
white  walls.  From  his  wire  cage,  shrouded  in  a  silk 
cover,  the  new  canary  piped  a  single  enquiring  note 
as  he  heard  my  step. 

I  dined  alone,  waited  on  in  a  paternal,  though 
condescending,  manner  by  old  Esdras,  and  when  I  had 
finished  my  coffee  I  sat  for  a  few  minutes  with  a  cigar 
on  the  porch,  where  the  branches  of  the  mimosa  tree  in 


THE   GROWING   DISTANCE  435 

full  bloom  drooped  over  the  white  railing.  While  I  sat 
there,  I  thought  drowsily  of  many  things  —  of  the 
various  financial  schemes  in  which  I  was  now  involved ; 
of  the  big  railroad  deal  which  I  had  refused  to  shirk 
and  which  meant  possible  millions ;  of  the  fact  that  the 
General  was  rapidly  aging,  and  had  already  spoken  of 
resigning  the  presidency  of  the  Great  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic.  Then  there  flashed  before  me  suddenly, 
in  the  midst  of  my  business  reflections,  the  look 
with  which  Sally  had  regarded  me  that  morning  while 
she  lay,  in  her  blue  satin  jacket,  on  the  embroidered 
pillows. 

^^How  alike  all  the  Blands  are,"  I  thought  sleepily, 
as  I  threw  the  end  of  my  cigar  out  into  the  garden  and 
rose  to  go  upstairs  to  bed;  ''I  never  noticed  until  of 
late  how  much  Sally  is  growing  to  resemble  her  Aunt 
Matoaca.'^ 

At  midnight,  after  two  hours^  restless  sleep,  I  awoke 
to  find  her  standing  before  the  bureau,  in  a  gown  of 
silver  gauze,  which  gave  her  an  illusive  appearance  of 
being  clothed  in  moonlight.  When  I  called  her,  and 
she  turned  and  came  toward  me,  I  saw  that  there  was 
a  brilliant,  unnatural  look  in  her  face,  as  though  she  had 
been  dancing  wildly  or  were  in  .a  fever.  And  this 
brilliancy  seemed  only  to  accentuate  the  sharpened  lines 
of  her  features,  with  their  suggestion  of  delicacy,  of  a 
too  transparent  fineness. 

^^You  were  asleep,  Ben.  I  am  sorry  I  waked  you,'^ 
she  said. 

^'What  is  the  matter,  you  are  so  flushed?"  I  asked. 

'^It  was  very  warm  in  the  theatre.  I  shan't  go  again 
until  autumn." 


436  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''I  don't  believe  you  are  well,  dear.  Isn't  it  time  for 
you  to  get  out  of  the  city?'' 

Her  arms  were  raised  to  unfasten  the  pearl  necklace 
at  her  throat,  and  while  I  watched  her  face  in  the  mirror, 
I  saw  that  the  flush  suddenly  left  it  and  it  grew  deadly 
white. 

^'It's  that  queer  pain  in  my  back,"  she  said,  sinking 
into  a  chair,  and  hiding  her  eyes  in  her  hands.  ^^It 
comes  on  like  this  without  warning.  I've  had  it  ever 
—  ever  since  that  year  on  Church  Hill." 

In  an  instant  I  was  beside  her,  catching  her  in  my 
arms  as  she  swayed  toward  me. 

^'What  can  I  do  for  you,  dearest?  Shall  I  get  you  a 
glass  of  wine?" 

^^No,  it  goes  just  as  it  comes,"  she  answered,  letting 
her  hands  fall  from  her  face,  and  looking  at  me  with  a 
smile.  ^' There,  I'm  better  now,  but  I  think  you're 
right.  I  need  to  go  out  of  the  city.  Even  if  I  were  to 
stay  here,"  she  added,  ^'you  would  be  almost  always 
away." 

''Go  North  with  Bonny  Marshall,  as  she  suggested, 
and  I'll  join  you  for  two  weeks  in  August." 

Shrinking  gently  out  of  my  arms,  she  sat  with  the 
unfastened  bodice  of  her  gown  slipping  away  from  her 
shoulders,  and  her  face  bent  over  the  pearl  necklace  which 
she  was  running  back  and  forth  through  her  fingers. 

''Bonny  and  Ned  and  George  all  want  me  to  go  to 
Bar  Harbor,"  she  said,  after  a  moment.  Then  she 
raised  her  eyes  and  looked  at  me  with  the  expression  of 
defiance,  of  recklessness,  I  had  seen  in  them  first  on  the 
afternoon  when  Beauchamp  had  thrown  her.  "li 
you  want  me  to  go,  too,  that  will  decide  it." 


THE   GROWING  DISTANCE  437 

''Of  course  I  shall  miss  you,  —  I  missed  you  this 
evening,  —  but  I  believe  it's  the  thing  for  you.'' 

''Then  I'll  go/'  she  responded  quietly,  and  turning 
away,  as  if  the  conversation  were  over,  she  went  into 
her  dressing-room  to  do  her  hair  for  the  night. 

Two  weeks  later  she  went,  and  during  her  absence  the 
long  hot  summer  dragged  slowly  by  while  I  plunged 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  whirlpool  of  affairs.  In 
August  I  made  an  effort  to  spend  the  promised  two 
weeks  with  her,  but  on  the  third  day  of  my  visit,  I  was 
summoned  home  by  a  telegram;  and  once  back  in  the 
city,  the  General's  rapidly  failing  health  kept  me  close 
as  a  prisoner  at  his  side.  When  October  came  and  I  met 
her  at  the  station,  I  noticed,  with  my  first  glance,  that 
the  look  of  excitement,  of  strained  and  unnatural 
brilliancy,  had  returned  to  her  appearance.  Some 
inward  flame,  burning  steadily  at  a  white  heat,  shone 
in  her  eyes  and  in  her  altered,  transparent  features. 

"It's  good  to  have  you  back  again,  heaven  knows,'' 
I  remarked,  as  we  drove  up  the  street  between  the 
scattered  trees  in  their  changing  October  foliage. 
"The  house  has  been  like  a  prison." 

For  the  first  time  since  she  had  stepped  from  the 
train,  she  leaned  nearer  and  looked  at  me  attentively, 
as  if  she  were  trying  to  recaU  some  detail  to  her 
memory. 

"You're  different,  Ben,''  she  said  ;  "you  look  so  —  so 
careless." 

Her  tone  was  gentle,  yet  it  fell  on  my  ears  ^dth  a 
curious  detachment,  a  remoteness,  as  if  in  thought,  at 
least,  she  were  standing  off  somewhere  in  an  unap- 
proachable place. 


438  THE    ROMANCE    OF    A    PLAIN    MAN 

'^I\'e  had  nobody  to  keep  me  up  and  I've  grown 
seedy/'  I  replied,  trying  to  speak  with  lightness.  ''Now 
I'll  begin  grooming  again,  but  all  the  same,  I've  made  a 
pretty  pile  of  money  for  you  this  summer." 

''Oh,  money!"  she  returned  indifferently,  "I've 
heard  nothing  but  money  since  I  went  away.  Is  there  a 
spot  on  earth,  I  wonder,  where  in  this  age  they  w^orship 
another  God?" 

"I  know  one  person  who  doesn't  worship  it,  and 
that's  Dr.  Theophilus." 

She  laughed  softly. 

"Well,  the  doctor  and  I  will  have  to  set  up  a  little 
altar  of  our  own." 

For  the  first  month  after  her  return,  I  hoped  that  she 
had  come  back  to  a  quieter  and  a  more  healthful 
life;  but  with  the  beginning  of  the  wdnter  season,  she 
resumed  the  ceaseless  rush  of  gaiety  in  which  she  had 
lived  for  the  last  two  years.  She  was  rarely  at  home 
now  in  the  evenings ;  I  came  up  always  too  tired  or  too 
busy  to  go  out  with  her,  and  after  dining  alone, 
wdthout  dressing,  I  would  hurry  into  my  study  for  an 
hour's  work  with  Bradley,  or  more  often  doze  for  a  while 
before  the  cedar  logs,  with  a  cigar  in  my  hand.  On 
the  few  occasions  when  she  remained  at  home,  our 
conversation  languished  feebly  because  the  one  subject 
which  engrossed  my  thoughts  was  received  by  her 
with  candid,  if  smiling,  scorn. 

"I  sometimes  wish,  Ben,"  she  remarked  one  evening 
while  we  sat  by  the  hearth  for  a  few  minutes  before 
going  upstairs,  "that  you'd  begin  to  learn  Johnson's 
Dictionary  again.  I'm  sure  it's  more  interesting  than 
stocks." 


THE   GROWING   DISTANCE  439 

The  red  light  of  the  flames  shone  on  her  exquisite 
fineness,  on  that  "look  of  the  Blands/^  which  lent  its 
peculiar  distinction,  its  suggestion  of  the  "something 
else,"  to  her  delicate  features  and  to  her  long  slender 
figure,  which  had  grown  a  little  too  thin.  Between  her 
and  myself,  divided  as  we  were  merely  by  the  space  of 
the  fireside,  I  felt  suddenly  that  there  stretched  both  a 
mental  and  a  physical  distance ;  and  this  sense  of  unlike- 
ness,  —  which  I  had  become  aware  of  for  the  first  time, 
when  she  stepped  from  the  train  that  October  morning, 
between  Bonny  and  George,  —  grew  upon  me  until  I 
could  no  longer  tell  whether  it  was  my  pride  or  my 
affection  that  suffered.  I  had  grown  careless,  I  knew, 
of  "the  little  things"  that  she  prized,  while  I  so  pas- 
sionately pursued  the  big  ones  to  which  she  appeared 
still  indifferent.  Meeting  my  image  in  one  of  the  old 
gilt-framed  mirrors  between  the  windows,  I  saw  that 
my  features  had  taken  the  settled  and  preoccupied  look 
of  the  typical  man  of  affairs,  that  my  figure,  needing 
the  exercise  I  had  had  no  time  for  of  late,  had  grown 
already  unelastic  and  heavy.  Had  she  noticed,  I 
wondered,  that  the  "magnificent  animal"  was  losing 
his  hold  ?  Only  that  afternoon  I  had  heard  her  laugh- 
ing with  George  over  some  trivial  jest  which  they  had 
not  explained ;  and  this  very  laughter,  because  I  did  not 
understand  it,  had  seemed,  in  some  subtle  way,  to  draw 
them  to  each  other  and  farther  from  me.  Yet  she  was 
mine,  not  George's,  and  the  gloss  on  her  hair,  the  scent 
of  her  gown,  the  pearls  at  her  throat,  were  all  the  things 
that  my  money  had  given  her. 

"I've  got  terribly  one-ideaed,  Sally,  I  know,"  I  said, 
answering  her  remark  after  a  long  silence;  "but  some 


440  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

day,  in  a  year  or  two  perhaps,  when  I'm  stronger, 
more  successful,  I'll  cut  it  all  for  a  time,  and  we'll  go  to 
Europe  together.  We'll  have  our  second  honeymoon 
as  soon  as  I  can  get  away." 

'^Remember  I've  a  reception  Thursday  night,  please, 
Ben,"  she  responded,  brushing  my  sentimental  sugges- 
tion lightly  aside. 

''By  Jove,  I'm  awfully  sorry,  but  I've  arranged  to 
meet  a  man  in  New  York  on  Wednesday.  I  simply  had 
to  do  it.     There  was  no  way  out  of  it." 

''Then  you  won't  be  here?" 

"I'll  make  a  desperate  effort  to  get  back  on  the  seven 
o'clock  train  from  Washington.     That  will  be  in  time  ? " 

"Yes,  that  will  be  in  time.  You  are  in  New  York 
and  Washington  two- thirds  of  the  month  now.'^ 

"It's  a  beastly  shame,  too,  but  it  won^t  last." 

With  a  smothered  yawn,  she  rose  from  her  chair, 
and  went  over  to  the  canary  cage,  raising  the  silk 
cover,  while  she  put  her  hps  to  the  wires  and  piped 
softly. 

"Dicky  is  fast  asleep,'^  she  remarked,  turning  away, 
"and  you,  Ben,  are  nodding.  How  dull  the  evenings 
are  when  one  has  nothing  to  do." 

The  next  day  I  went  to  New  York,  and  leaving 
Washington  on  Thursday  afternoon,  I  had  expected  to 
reach  Richmond  in  time  to  appear  at  Sally's  reception 
by  nine  o'clock  that  evening.  But  a  wreck  on  the  road 
caused  the  train  to  be  held  back  for  several  hours, 
and  it  was  already  late  when  I  jumped  from  the  cab  at 
my  door,  and  hurried  under  the  awning  across  the  pave- 
ment. The  sound  of  stringed  instruments  playing 
softly  reached  me  as  it  had  done  so  many  years  ago 


THE   GROWING   DISTANCE  U\ 

on  the  night  when  I  first  crossed  the  threshold ;  and  a 
minute  afterwards,  when  I  went  hastily  up  the  staircase, 
in  its  covering  of  white,  and  its  festoons  of  smilax, 
pretty  girls  made  way  for  me,  with  laughing  reprimandi 
on  their  hps.  Dressing  as  quickly  as  I  could,  I  came 
down  again  and  met  the  same  rebukes  from  the  same 
charming  and  smiling  faces. 

''You  are  really  the  most  outrageous  man  I  know," 
observed  Bonny  Marshall,  stopping  me  at  the  foot  ol 
the  staircase.  ''Poor  Sally  has  been  so  awfully  wor- 
ried that  she  hasn't  any  colour,  and  I've  advised  her 
simply  to  engage  George  as  permanent  proxy.  He  is 
taking  your  place  this  evening  quite  charmingly." 

The  splendour  of  her  appearance,  rather  than  the 
severity  of  her  words,  held  me  bound  and  speechless. 
She  w^as  the  most  beautiful  woman,  it  was  generally 
admitted,  in  all  Virginia,  and  in  her  spangled  gown, 
which  fell  away  from  her  superb  shoulders,  there  was 
something  brilliant  and  barbaric  about  her  that  went 
like  strong  vdne  to  the  head.  A  minute  later  she  passed 
on,  surrounded  by  former  discarded  lovers ;  and  before 
entering  the  drawing-room  —  w^here  Sally  was  standing 
between  George  Bolingbroke  and  a  man  whom  I  did 
not  know  —  I  paused  behind  a  tub  of  flowering  azalea, 
and  watched  the  brightly  coloured  gowns  of  the  women 
as  they  flitted  back  and  forth  over  the  shining  floor.  It 
was  a  year  since  I  had  been  out  even  to  dine,  and  while  I 
stood  there,  the  music,  the  lights,  and  the  gaily  dressed, 
laughing  women  produced  in  me  the  old  boyish  con- 
sciousness of  the  disadvantage  of  my  size,  of  my  awk- 
wardness, of  my  increasing  weight.  I  remembered 
suddenly  the  figure  of  President  as  he  had  loomed  on 


442  THE    KUMA:NCE    OF    A    PLAIN    MAN 

the  night  of  our  first  dinner  party  between  the  feathery 
palm  branches  in  the  brilhantly  hghted  hall;  and  a 
sense  of  kinship  with  my  own  family,  with  my  own  past, 
awoke  not  in  my  thoughts,  but  in  my  body.  Across  the 
threshold,  only  a  few  steps  away,  I  could  see  Sally 
receiving  her  guests  in  her  gracious  Fairfax  manner, 
with  George  and  the  man  whom  I  did  not  know  at  her 
side ;  and  whenever  George  turned  and  spoke,  as  he  did 
always  at  the  right  instant,  I  was  struck  by  the  perfect 
agreement,  the  fitness,  in  their  appearance.  These 
things  that  she  valued  —  these  adornments  of  the 
outside  of  existence  —  were  not  in  my  power  to  bestow 
except  when  they  could  be  bought  with,  money.  How 
large,  how  heavy,  I  should  have  appeared  there  in 
George's  place,  which  was  mine.  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life  a  contempt  for  mere  wealth,  and  for  the  posi- 
tion which  the  amassment  of  wealth  confers,  entered 
my  heart.  In  seeking  to  give  money  had  I,  in  reality, 
sacrificed  the  ability  to  give  the  things  that  she  valued 
far  more?  Surrounded  by  the  flowers  and  the  lights 
and  the  music  of  the  stringed  instruments,  I  saw  her 
in  my.  memory  framed  in  the  long  window  of  our  bed- 
room on  Church  Hill,  with  the  dim  grey  garden  behind 
her,  and  the  breeze,  fragrant  with  jessamine,  blowing 
the  thin  folds  of  her  gown.  Some  clairvoyant  insight, 
purchased,  not  by  success,  but  by  the  suffering  of  those 
months,  opened  my  eyes.  What  I  had  lost,  I  saw^  now, 
was  Sally  herself  —  not  the  outward  woman,  but  the 
inner  spirit,  the  fineness  of  sympathy,  the  quickness  of 
understanding.  The  things  that  she  could  have  taught 
me  were  the  finer  beauties  of  life  —  and  these  I  had 
scorned  to  learn  because  they  could  not  be  grasped  in 


THE   GROWING   DISTANCE  443 

the  hands.  The  objective,  the  external,  was  what  I 
had  worshipped,  and  our  real  division  had  come,  not 
from  the  accident  of  our  different  beginnings,  but  from 
the  choice  that  had  committed  us  to  opposite  ends. 

Some  of  the  guests  I  knew,  and  these  spoke  to  me  as 
they  passed ;  others  I  had  never  seen,  and  these  walked 
by  with  level  abstracted  eyes  fixed  on  the  little  group 
surrounding  Sally  and  George.  It  was  not  only  Sally's 
''set"  —  the  older  aristocratic  circle  —  that  was  rep- 
resented, I  knew,  for  in  the  throng  I  recognised  many 
of  '4he  new  people"  —  of  the  '^ mushrooms,"  of  whom 
Bonny's  grandmama  had  spoken  with  scorn.  Once 
George  turned  and  came  toward  the  doorway,  and  the 
General,  starting  somewhere  from  a  corner,  observed 
in  his  loud  hilarious  voice,  ^'I  don't  know  w^hat  kind 
of  husband  you'd  have  made,  George,  but,  by  Jove,  you 
do  mighty  well  as  a  '  hanger-on'  1" 

What  George's  response  was  I  could  not  hear,  but 
from  the  dark  flushed  look  of  his  features,  I  judged  that 
he  had  not  received  the  attack  with  his  accustomed 
amiabilit}'.  Then,  as  he  was  about  to  pass  into  the 
hall,  his  eyes  fell  on  me,  standing  behind  the  tub  of 
azalea,  and  a  low  whistle  of  surprise  broke  from  his  Hps. 

''So  here  you  are,  Ben  !  We'd  given  you  up  at  least 
three  hours  ago." 

''There  was  a  wreck,  and  the  train  was  delayed." 

'^Vs  ell,  come  in  and  do  your  duty,  or  what  remains  of 
it.  It's  no  fun  acting  host  in  another  man's  house, 
when  you  don't  know  where  he  keeps  his  cigars.  Sall}^, 
Ben's  turned  up,  after  all,  at  the  last  minute,  when  the 
hard  work  is  over." 

Crossing  the  threshold^  I  joined   the  little  group, 


444  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN  MAN 

shaking  hands  here  and  there,  while  Sally  made  run- 
ning comments  in  a  voice  that  sounded  hopelessly  ani- 
mated and  cheerful.  She  was  looking  very  pale,  there 
were  dark  violet  circles  under  her  eyes,  and  her  gown 
of  some  faint  sea-green  shade  brought  out  the  delicate 
sharpened  lines  of  her  face  and  throat.  The  flame, 
which  had  burnt  so  steadily  for  the  last  year,  seemed  to 
die  out  slowly,  in  a  waning  flicker,  while  she  stood  there. 

George,  pushing  me  aside,  came  back  with  a  glass  of 
wine  and  a  biscuit. 

^^Drink  this,  Sally,"  he  said.  ''No,  don't  shake 
your  head,  drink  it.'' 

She  held  out  her  hand  for  the  glass,  but  after  she  had 
taken  it  from  him,  before  she  could  raise  it  to  her  lips, 
a  tremor  of  anguish  that  was  almost  like  a  convulsion 
passed  into  her  face.  The  glass  fell  from  her  hand,  and 
the  wine,  splashing  over  her  gown,  stained  it  in  a  red 
streak  from  bosom  to  hem.  Her  figure  swayed  slightly, 
but  when  I  reached  out  my  arms  to  catch  her,  she 
gazed  straight  beyond  me,  with  eyes  which  had  grown 
wide  and  bright  from  some  physical  pain. 

''George !"  she  said,  "George !"  and  the  name  as  she 
uttered  it  was  an  appeal  for  help. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

THE   BLOW  THAT   CLEARS 

Until  dawn  the  doctor  was  with  her,  but  in  the 
afternoon,  when  I  went  into  her  room,  I  found  that  she 
had  got  out  of  bed  and  was  dressed  for  motoring. 

''Oh,  I'm  all  right.  There's  nothing  the  matter  with 
me  except  that  I  am  smothering  for  fresh  air,''  she  said 
almost  irritably,  in  reply  to  my  remonstrances. 

''But  you  are  ill,  Sally.     You  are  as  pale  as  a  ghost." 

She  shook  her  head  impatiently,  and  I  noticed  that 
the  furs  she  wore  seemed  to  drag  down  her  slender 
figure. 

"The  wdnd  will  bring  back  my  colour.  If  I  he  there 
and  think  all  day,  I  shall  go  out  of  my  mind."  Her 
hps  trembled  and  a  quiver  passed  through  her  face, 
but  when  I  made  a  step  toward  her,  she  repulsed  me 
with  a  gesture  which,  gentle  as  it  was,  appeared  to 
place  me  at  a  measured  distance.  "I  wish  —  oh,  I 
wish  Aunt  Euphronasia  wasn't  dead,"  she  said  in  a 
whisper. 

"If  you  go,  may  I  go  with  you?"  I  asked. 

For  a  minute  she  hesitated,  then  meeting  my  eyes 
with  a  glance  in  which  I  read  for  the  first  time  since  I 
had  known  her,  a  gentle  aversion,  a  faint  hostihty,  she 
answered  quietly:  — 

445 


446  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

''I  am  sorry,  but  I've  just  telephoned  Bonny  that 
I'd   call   for  her." 

The  old  bruise  in  my  heart  throbbed  while  I  turned 
away ;  but  the  pain  instead  of  melting  my  pride,  only 
increased  the  terrible  reticence  which  I  wore  now  as  an 
armour.  Her  face,  above  the  heavy  furs  that  seemed 
dragging  her  down,  had  in  it  something  of  the  soft, 
uncompromising  obstinacy  of  Miss  Matoaca.  So 
dehcate  she  appeared  that  I  could  almost  have  broken 
her  body  in  my  grasp ;  yet  I  knew  that  she  would  not 
yield  though  I  brought  the  full  strength  of  my  will 
to  bear  in  the  struggle.  In  the  old  days,  doubtless, 
Matoaca  Bland,  then  in  her  pride  and  beauty,  had 
faced  the  General  with  this  same  firmness  which  was 
as  soft  as  velvet  yet  as  inflexible  as  steel. 

A  few  days  after  this,  the  great  man,  who  had  grown 
at  last  too  feeble  for  an  active  part  in  ^'affairs,"  re- 
signed the  presidency  of  the  South  Midland,  and 
retired,  as  he  said,  ''to  enjoy  his  second  childhood." 

''It's  about  time  for  Theophilus  to  bring  around  his 
box  of  ants,  I  reckon,"  he  observed,  and  added  seri- 
ously after  a  moment,  "Yes,  there's  no  use  trjdng  to 
prop  up  a  fallen  tree,  Ben.  I've  had  a  long  hfe  and  a 
good  life,  and  I  am  willing  to  draw  out.  It's  a  losing 
game  any  way  you  play  it,  when  it  comes  to  that. 
I've  thought  a  lot  about  it,  my  boy,  these  last  weeks, 
and  I  teU  you  the  only  thing  that  sticks  by  you  to  the 
last  is  the  love  of  a  woman.  If  you  need  a  woman 
when  you  are  young,  you  need  her  ten  thousand  times 
more  when  you're  old.  If  Miss  Matoaca  had  married 
me,  we'd  both  of  us  have  been  a  long  ways  better  off." 

That  night  I  told  Sally  of  the  resignation,  and  re- 


THE   BLOW    THAT   CLEARS  447 

peated  to  her  a  part  of  the  conversation.  The  senti- 
mental allusion  to  Miss  Matoaca  she  treated  with  scorn, 
but  after  a  few  thoughtful  moments  she  said:  — 

''You've  always  wanted  to  be  president  of  the 
South  Midland  more  than  anything  in  the  world?'' 

''More  than  anything  in  the  world,"  I  admitted 
absently. 

^'There's  a  chance  now?" 

"Yes,  I  suppose  there's  a  chance  now." 

She  said  nothing  more,  but  the  next  morning  as  I 
w^as  getting  into  my  overcoat,  she  sent  me  word  that 
she  wished  to  speak  to  me  again  before  I  went  out. 

"I'll  be  up  in  a  minute,"  I  answered,  and  I  had 
turned  to  follow  the  maid  up  *the  staircase,  when  a 
sharp  ring  at  the  telephone  distracted  my  attention. 

"Come  down  in  five  minutes  if  you  can,"  said  a  voice. 
"  You're  wanted  badly  about  the  B.  and  R.  deal." 

"Is  your  mistress  ill?"  I  enquired,  turning  from 
the  telephone  to  take  up  my  overcoat. 

"I  think  not,  sir,"  replied  the  woman,  "she  is  dress- 
ing." 

"Then  tell  her  I'm  called  away,  but  I  will  see  her  at 
luncheon,"  I  answered  hurriedly,  as  I  rushed  out. 

Upon  reaching  my  office,  I  found  that  my  presence 
was  required  in  Washington  before  two  o'clock,  and  a.^ 
I  had  not  time  to  return  home,  I  telephoned  Sally  fo^' 
my  bag,  which  she  sent  down  to  the  station  by  Micah, 
the  coachman. 

"I  hope  to  return  early  to-morrow,"  I  said  to  the 
negro  from  the  platform,  as  the  train  pulled  out. 

In  my  anxiety  over  the  possible  collapse  of  the 
important  B.  and  R.  deal,  the  message  that  Sally  had 


448  THE   EOMAXCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

sent  me  that  morning  was  crowded  for  several  hours 
out  of  my  thoughts.  When  I  remembered  it  later  in 
the  afternoon,  I  sent  her  a  telegram  explaining  my  ab- 
sence ;  and  my  conscience,  which  had  troubled  me  for 
a  moment,  was  appeased  by  this  attention  that  would 
prove  to  her  that  even  in  the  midst  of  my  business 
worries  I  had  not  forgotten  her.  There  was,  indeed,  I 
assured  myself,  no  cause  for  the  sudden  throb  of  anx- 
iety, almost  of  apprehension,  I  had  felt  at  the  recol- 
lection of  the  message  that  I  had  disregarded.  She 
had  looked  stronger  yesterday;  I  had  commented  at 
dinner  on  the  fine  flush  in  her  cheeks;  and  the  pain, 
which  had  caused  me  such  sharp  distress  while  it 
lasted,  had  vanished  entirely  for  the  last  thirty-six 
hours.  Then  the  sound  of  her  voice,  with  its  note  of 
appeal,  of  helplessness,  of  terror,  when  she  had  called 
upon  George  at  the  reception,  returned  to  me  as  if  it 
were  spoken  audibly  somewhere  in  my  brain.  I  saw 
her  eyes,  wide  and  bright,  as  they  had  been  when  they 
looked  straight  beyond  me  in  search  of  help,  and  her 
slender,  swaying  figure  in  its  gown  of  a  pale  sea-foam 
shade  that  was  stained  from  bosom  to  hem  with  the 
red  streak  of  the  wine.  ^^  Yet  there  is  nothing  to  worry 
about,"  I  thought,  annoyed  because  I  could  not  put 
this  anxiety,  this  apprehension,  out  of  my  mind. 
''She  is  not  ill.  She  is  better.  Only  last  night  I  heard 
her  laughing  as  she  has  not  done  for  weeks." 

The  afternoon  was  crowded  with  meetings,  and  it 
was  three  o'clock  the  next  day  when  I  reached  home 
and  asked  eagerly  for  Sally  as  I  went  up  the  staircase. 
She  had  gone  out,  her  maid  informed  me,  but  I  would 
find  a  note  she  had  left  on  my  desk  in  the  library. 


THE   BLOW   THAT   CLEARS  449 

Turning  hastily  back,  I  took  up  the  note  from  the 
silver  blotter  beneath  which  it  was  lying,  and  as  I 
opened  it,  I  saw  that  the  address  looked  tremulous 
and  uncertain,  as  if  it  had  been  written  in  haste  or 
excitement. 

'^Dear  Ben  (it  read),  I  have  been  in  trouble,  and  as  1 
do  not  \sish  to  disturb  you  at  this  time,  I  am  going 
away  for  a  few  days  to  think  it  over.  I  shall  be  at 
Rivervdew^  the  old  place  on  James  River  where  mamma 
and  I  used  to  stay  —  but  go  ahead  with  the  South 
Midland,  and  don't  worry  about  me,  it  is  all  right. 

"Sally.'' 

"I  have  been  in  trouble,"  I  repeat-ed  slowly.  "What 
trouble,  and  why  should  she  keep  it  from  me?  Oh, 
because  of  the  presidency  of  the  South  Midland ! 
Damn  the  South  Midland  !"  I  said  suddenly  aloud.  A 
time-table  was  on  my  desk,  and  looking  into  it,  I  found 
that  a  train  left  for  Riverview  in  half  an  hour.  I  rang 
the  bell  and  old  Esdras  appeared  to  announce  luncheon. 

"I  want  nothing  to  eat.  Bring  me  a  cup  of  coffee 
I  must  catch  a  train  in  a  few  minutes." 

"Fur  de  Lawd's  sake,  Marse  Ben,"  exclaimed  the 
old  negro,  "you  ain'  never  gwineter  res'  at  home  agin." 

Still  grumbling  he  brought  the  coffee,  and  I  was 
standing  by  the  desk  with  the  cup  raised  to  my  lips, 
when  the  front  door  opened  and  shut  sharply,  and  the 
General  came  into  the  room,  leaning  upon  two  gold- 
headed  walking-sticks.  He  looked  old  and  tired,  and 
more  than  ever,  in  his  fur-lined  overcoat,  hke  a  w^ounded 
eagle. 

"Ben,"  he  said,  "what's  this  Hatty  tells  me  about 

2o 


450  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

George  taking  Sally  out  motoring  with  him  yester* 
day,  and  not  bringing  her  back?  Has  there  been  an 
accident?  '^ 

My  arteries  drummed  in  my  ears,  and  for  a  minute 
the  noise  shut  out  all  other  sounds.  Then  I  heard  a 
carriage  roll  by  in  the  street,  and  the  faint  regular 
ticking  of  the  small  clock  on  the  mantel. 

^^ Sally  is  at  Riverview/'  I  answered,  ''I  am  going 
down  to  her  on  the  next  train.''' 

^^Then  where  in  the  devil  is  George?  He  went  off 
with  her." 

^^ George  may  be  there,  too.  I  hope  he  is.  She 
needs  somebody  with  her.'' 

A  purple  flush  rose  to  the  General's  face,  and  the 
expression  in  his  small,  watery  grey  eyes  held  me 
speechless. 

^^Confound  you,  Ben!"  he  exclaimed,  in  a  burst  of 
temper,  ^^do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  don't  know  that 
George's  blamed  foolishness  is  the  talk  of  the  town? 
Why,  he  hasn't  let  Sally  out  of  his  sight  for  the  last 
two  years." 

''No,  I  didn't  know  it,"  I  replied. 

''Great  Scott!     Where  are  your  wits?" 

"In  the  stock  market,"  I  answered  bitterly.  Then 
something  in  me,  out  of  the  chaos  and  the  darkness, 
rose  suddenly,  as  if  with  wings,  into  the  light.  "Of 
course  Sally  is  an  angel.  General,  we  both  know  that  — 
but  how  she  could  have  helped  iSeeing  that  George  is 
the  better  man  of  us,  I  don't  for  a  nunute  pretend  to 
understand." 

"Well,  I  never  had  much  opinion  of  George,"  re- 
sponded the  General.     "It  always  seemed  to  me  that 


THE   BLOW    THAT    CLEARS  451 

lie  ought  to  have  made  a  great  deal  more  of  himself 
than  he  has  done.'^ 

^'What  he  has  made  of  himself/'  I  answered,  and 
my  voice  sounded  harsh  in  my  ears,  ^4s  the  man  that 
Sally  ought  to  have  married/' 

I  went  out  hurriedly,  forgetting  to  assist  him,  and 
limping  painfully,  he  followed  me  to  the  porch,  and 
called  after  me  as  I  ran  down  into  the  street.  Looking 
back,  as  I  turned  the  corner,  I  saw  him  getting  with 
difficulty  mto  his  buggy,  w^hich  waited  beside  the 
curbing,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  his  great  bulky 
figure,  in  his  fur-Kned  overcoat,  was  unreal  and  intangi- 
ble like  the  images  that  one  sees  in  sleep. 

The  train  was  about  to  pull  out  as  I  entered  the 
station,  and  swinging  on  to  the  rear  coach,  I  settled 
myself  into  the  first  chair  I  came  to,  which  happened 
to  be  directly  behind  the  shining  bald  head  and  red 
neck  of  a  man  I  knew.  As  I  shrank  back,  he  turned, 
caught  sight  of  me,  and  held  out  his  hand  with  an  easy 
air  of  good-fellowship. 

''So  General  Bolingbroke  has  retired  from  the  South 
Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad,  I  hear,"  he  remarked. 
'^  Well,  there's  a  big  job  w^aiting  for  somebody,  but  he'll 
have  to  be  a  big  man  to  fit  it." 

A  sudden  ridiculous  annoyance  took  possession  of 
me ;  the  General,  the  South  Midland  Railroad,  and  the 
bald-headed  man  before  me,  all  appeared  to  enter  my 
consciousness  like  small,  stinging  gnats  that  swarmed 
about  larger  bodies.  What  was  the  railroad  to  me,  if 
I  had  lost  Sally?  Had  I  lost  her?  Was  it  possible 
to  win  her  again?  ''I  am  in  trouble,"  the  words 
whirled  in  my  thoughts,  ^'and  as  I  do  not  wish  to  dis- 


452  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

turb  you  at  this  time,  I  have  gone  off  for  a  few  days  to 
think  it  over.''  Was  the  trouble  associated  with 
George  BoHngbroke?  Did  she  mind  the  gossip? 
Did  she  think  I  should  mind  it?  Whatever  it  was, 
why  didn't  she  come  to  me  and  weep  it  out  on  my 
breast?  '^I  didn't  want  to  disturb  you  at  this  time." 
At  this  time  ?  That  was  because  of  the  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  Railroad.  '^Damn  the  South  Midland 
and  Atlantic  Railroad  !"  I  said  again  under  my  breath. 

The  red  neck  of  the  bald-headed  man  in  front  of  me 
suddenly  turned. 

^^ Going  down  for  a  little  hunting?"  he  enquired 
genially,  ^4here  isn't  much  else,  I  reckon,  to  take  a 
man  like  you  down  into  this  half-baked  country.  I 
hear  the  partridges  are  getting  scarce,  and  they  are 
going  to  bring  a  bill  into  the  Legislature  forbidding  the 
sending  of  them  outside  of  the  state.  Now,  that's  a 
direct  slap,  I  say,  at  the  small  farmer.  A  bird  is  a  bird, 
ain't  it,  even  if  it's  a  Virginia  partridge?  " 

I  rose  and  took  up  my  overcoat.  ^^I'll  go  into  the 
smoking-car.     They  keep  it  too  hot  here." 

He  nodded  cheerfully.  ^^I  was  in  there  myself,  but 
it's  like  an  oven,  too,  so  I  came  out."  Then  he  un- 
folded his  newspaper,  and  I  passed  hurriedly  down  the 
aisle  of  the  coach. 

In  the  smoking-car  the  air  was  like  the  fumes  in  the 
stemming  room  of  a  tobacco  factory,  but  lighting  a 
cigar,  I  leaned  back  on  one  of  the  hard,  plush-covered 
seats,  and  stared  out  at  the  low,  pale  landscape  beyond 
the  window.  It  was  late  November,  and  the  sombre 
colours  of  the  fields  and  of  the  leafless  trees  showed 
through  a  fine  autumnal  mist,  which  lent  an  atmosphere 


THE   BLOW   THAT    CLEARS  453 

of  melancholy  to  the  stretches  of  fallow  land,  to  the 
harvested  corn-fields,  in  which  the  stubble  stood  in 
rows,  like  a  headless  army,  and  to  the  long  red- clay 
road  winding,  deep  in  mud,  to  the  distant  horizon. 

'^I  am  in  trouble  —  I  am  in  trouble, '^  I  heard  al- 
ways above  the  roar  of  the  train,  above  the  shrill 
whistle  of  the  engine,  as  it  rounded  a  curve,  above  the 
thin,  drawling  voices  of  my  fellow-passengers,  disput- 
ing a  question  in  politics.  ^^I  am  in  trouble,^'  ran 
the  words.  ''What  trouble?  What  trouble?  What 
trouble  ?  "  I  repeated  passionately,  while  my  teeth 
bit  into  my  cigar,  and  the  flame  went  out.  ''So 
George  hasn't  let  her  out  of  his  sight  for  two  years,  and 
I  did  not  know  it.  For  two  years !  And  in  these 
two  years  how  much  have  I  seen  of  her  —  of  Sally,  my 
vriie?  We  have  been  living  separate  lives  under  the 
same  roof,  and  when  she  asked  me  for  bread,  I  have 
given  her  —  pearls  !"  A  passion  of  remorse  gripped  me 
at  the  throat  like  the  spring  of  a  beast.  Pearls  for 
bread,  and  that  to  Sally  —  to  my  wife,  whom  I  loved  ! 
The  melancholy  landscape  at  which  I  looked  appeared 
to  divide  and  dissolve,  and  she  came  back  to  me,  not 
as  I  had  last  seen  her,  weighed  down  by  the  furs  which 
were  too  heavy,  but  in  her  blue  gingham  apron  with 
the  jagged  burn  on  her  wrist,  and  the  patient,  divine 
smile  hovering  about  her  Hps.  If  she  went  from  me 
now,  it  would  be  always  the  Sally  of  that  year  of  pov- 
erty, of  suffering,  that  I  had  lost.  In  the  future  she 
would  haunt  me,  not  in  her  sea-green  gown,  with  the 
jewels  on  her  bosom,  but  in  her  gingham  apron  with 
the  sleeves  rolled  back  from  her  reddened  arms  and 
the  jagged  scar  from  the  burn  disfiguring  her  flesh. 


454  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

'^1^11  see  him  in  hell,  before  I'll  vote  for  hirnl^' 
called  out  a  voice  at  my  back,  in  a  rage. 

The  train  pulled  into  the  little  vv'ayside  station  of 
Riverview,  and  getting  out,  I  started  on  the  walk  of 
two  miles  through  the  flat,  brown  fields  to  the  house. 
The  road  was  heavy  with  mud,  and  it  was  like  plough- 
ing to  keep  straight  on  in  the  single  red-clay  furrow 
which  the  wheels  of  passing  wagons  had  left.  All  was 
desolate,  all  was  deserted,  and  the  only  living  things 
I  saw  between  the  station  and  the  house  were  a  few 
lonely  sheep  browsing  beside  a  stream,  and  the  brown- 
winged  birds  that  flew,  with  wet  plumage,  across  the 
road. 

When  I  reached  the  ruined  gateway  of  Riverview, 
the  old  estate  of  the  Elands',  I  quickened  my  pace, 
and  went  rapidly  up  the  long  drive  to  the  front  of  the 
house,  where  I  saw  the  glimmer  of  red  firelight  on  the 
ivied  window-panes  in  the  west  wing.  As  I  ascended 
the  steps,  there  was  a  sound  on  the  gravel,  and  George 
Bolingbroke  came  around  the  corner  of  the  house,  in 
hunting  clothes,  with  a  setter  dog  at  his  heels. 

^^Hello,  Ben!"  he  remarked,  half  angrily.  '^So 
you Ve  turned  up,  have  you  ?  Has  there  been  another 
panic  in  the  market  ?'' 

^^Is  Sally  here?''  I  asked.  ^^I'm  anxious  about 
her." 

^'Well,  it's  time  you  were,"  he  answered.  "Yes, 
she's  inside." 

He  stopped  in  the  centre  of  the  walk,  and  turning 
from  the  door,  I  came  back  and  faced  him  in  a  silence 
that  seemed  alive  with  the  beating  of  innumerable 
wings  in  the  air. 


THE   BLOW    THAT    CLEARS  455 

'^Something's  wrong,  George/'  I  said  at  last,  break- 
ing through  my  restraint. 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  calm,  enquiring  gaze  while 
I  was  speaking,  and  by  that  look  I  understood,  in  an 
inspiration,  he  had  condemned  me. 

''Yes,  something's  wrong,"  he  answered  quietly, 
''but  have  you  just  found  it  out?" 

"I  haven't  found  it  out  yet.  What  is  it?  What  is 
the  matter?" 

At  the  question  his  calmness  deserted  him  and  the 
dark  flush  of  anger  broke  suddenly  in  his  face. 

"The  matter  is,  Ben,"  he  replied,  holding  himself 
in  with  an  effort,  "that  you've  missed  being  a  fool 
only  by  being  a  genius  instead." 

Then  turning  away,  as  if  his  temper  had  got  the 
better  of  him,  he  strode  back  through  a  clump  of 
trees  on  the  law^n,  while  I  went  up  the  steps  again, 
and  crossing  the  cold  hall,  entered  the  dismantled 
drawling-room,  where  a  bright  log  fire  was  burn- 
ing. 

Sally  was  sitting  on  the  hearth,  half  hidden  by  the 
high  arms  of  the  chair,  and  as  I  closed  the  door  be- 
hind me,  she  rose  and  stood  looking  at  me  with  an 
expression  of  surprise.  So  had  Miss  Mitty  and  Miss 
Matoaca  looked  in  the  firelight  on  that  November 
afternoon  when  Sally  and  I  had  gone  in  together. 

"Why,  Ben!"  she  said  quietly,  "I  thought  you 
were  in  Washington!" 

"I  got  home  this  morning  and  found  your  note. 
Sally,  what  is  the  trouble?" 

"You  came  after  me?" 

"I   came   after  you.     The  General  went  wild   and 


456  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

imagined  that  there  had  been  an  accident,  or  George 
had  run  off  with  you/' 

''Then  the  General  sent  you?'' 

''Nobody  sent  me.  I  was  leaving  the  house  when 
he  found  me.'' 

She  had  not  moved  toward  me,  and  for  some  reason, 
I  still  stood  where  I  had  stopped  short  in  the  centre 
of  the  room,  kept  back  by  the  reserve,  the  detachment 
in  her  expression. 

"You  came  believing  that  George  and  I  had  gone 
off  together?"  she  asked,  and  there  was  a  faint 
hostility  in  her  voice. 

"Of  course  I  didn't  believe  it.  I'm  not  a  fool  if  I 
am  an  ass.  But  if  I  had  believed  it,"  I  added  pas- 
sionately, "it  would  have  made  no  difference.  I'd 
have  come  after  you  if  you'd  gone  off  with  twenty 
Georges." 

"Well,  there's  only  one,"  she  said,  "and  I  did  go 
off  with  him." 

"It  makes  no  difference." 

"We  left  Richmond  at  ten  o'clock  yesterday,  and 
we've  been  here  ever  since." 

"What  does  that  matter?" 

"You  mean  it  doesn't  matter  that  I  came  away 
with  George  and  spent  twenty-four  hours?" 

"I  mean  that  nothing  matters  —  not  if  you'd  spent 
twenty-four  years." 

"I  suppose  it  doesn't,"  she  responded  quietly,  and 
there  was  a  curious  remoteness,  a  hoUowness  in  the 
sound  of  the  words.  "When  one  comes  to  see  things 
as  they  are,  nothing  really  matters.     It  is  all  just  the 


THE   BLOW    THAT    CLEARS  457 

Her  face  looked  unsubstantial  and  wan  in  the  fire- 
light, and  so  ethereal,  ::0  heshless,  appeared  her  figure, 
that  it  seemed  to  me  I  could  see  through  it  to  the 
shining  of  the  flames  before  which  she  stood. 

"1  can't  talk,  Sally,''  I  said,  ^^I  am  not  good  at 
words,  I  believe  I'm  more  than  half  a  fool  as  George 
has  just  told  me  —  but  —  but  —  I  want  you  —  I've 
always  wanted  you  —  I've  never  in  my  heart  wanted 
anything  in  the  world  but  you — " 

'•I  don't  suppose  even  that  matters  much,"  she 
answered  wearily,  ^^but  if  you  care  to  know,  Ben, 
George  and  Bonny  found  me  when  I  was  alone  and  — 
and  very  unhappy,  and  they  brought  me  with  them 
when  they  came  down  to  hunt.  They  are  hunting 
now." 

^'You  were  alone  and  unhappy?"  I  said,  for  George 
BoHngbroke  and  Bonny  Marshall  had  faded  from  me 
into  the  region  of  utterly  indifferent  things. 

^'It  was  that  I  wanted  to  teU  you  the  morning  you 
couldn't  wait,"  she  returned  gently;  ^^I  had  kept  it 
from  you  the  night  before  because  I  saw  that  you 
were  so  tired  and  needed  sleep.  But  —  but  I  had 
seen  two  doctors,  both  had  told  me  that  I  was  ill, 
that  I  had  some  trouble  of  the  spine,  that  I  might  be 
an  invalid  —  a  useless  invalid,  if  I  lived,  that  —  that 
there  would  never  be  another  child  —  that — " 

Her  voice  faltered  and  ceased,  for  crossing  the 
room  with  a  bound,  I  had  gathered  her  to  my  breast, 
and  was  bending  over  her  in  an  intensity,  a  ^'iolence 
of  love,  crushing  back  her  hands  on  her  bosom,  while 
I  kissed  her  face,  her  throat,  her  hair,  her  dress  even, 
as  I  had  never  kissed  her  in  the  early  days  of  our 


458  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN   MAN 

marriage.  The  passion  of  happiness  in  that  radiant 
prime  was  pale  and  bloodless  beside  the  passion  of 
sorrow  which  shook  me  now. 

''Stop,  stop,  Ben/'  she  said,  struggling  to  be  free, 
''let  me  go.     You  are  hurting  me.'' 

''I  shall  never  stop,  I  shall  never  let  you  go,"  I 
answered,  ''I  shall  hold  you  forever,  even  if  it  hurts 
you." 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE    ULTIMATE    CHOICE 

We  carried  her  home  next  day  in  George's  motor 
car,  ploughing  with  difficulty  over  the  heavy  roads, 
which  in  a  month's  time  would  have  become  impas- 
sable. A  golden  morning  had  followed  the  rain;  the 
sun  shone  clear,  the  wind  sang  in  the  bronzed  tree- 
tops,  and  on  the  low  hills  to  the  right  of  us,  the  har- 
vested corn  ricks  stood  out  illuminated  against  a  deep 
blue  sky.  When  the  brown-winged  birds  flew,  as  they 
sometimes  did,  across  the  road,  her  eyes  measured 
their  flight  with  a  look  in  which  there  was  none  of 
the  radiant  impulse  I  had  seen  on  that  afternoon 
when  she  gazed  after  the  flying  swallows.  She  spoke 
but  seldom,  and  then  it  was  merely  to  thank  me  when 
I  wrapped  the  fur  rug  about  her,  or  to  reply  to  a 
question  of  George's  with  a  smile  that  had  in  it  a 
touching  helplessness,  a  pathetic  courage.  And  this 
helplessness,  this  courage,  brought  to  my  memory  the 
sound  of  her  voice  when  she  had  called  George's  name 
aloud  in  her  terror.  Even  after  we  had  reached  home, 
and  when  she  and  I  stood  alone,  for  a  minute,  before 
the  fire  in  her  room,  I  felt  still  that  something  within 
her  —  something  immaterial  and  flamelike  that  was 
her  soul  —  turned  from  me,  seeking  always  a  clearer 
and  a  diviner  air. 

459 


460  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A  PLAIN   MAN 

^^Are  you  in  pain  now,  Sally?  What  can  I  do  for 
you?"  I  asked. 

^^No,  I  am  better.     Don't  worry/'  she  answered. 

Then,  because  there  seemed  nothing  further  to  say, 
I  stood  in  silence,  while  she  moved  from  me,  as  if  the 
burden  of  her  weight  was  too  much  for  her,  and  sank 
down  on  the  couch,  hiding  her  face  in  the  pillows. 

Two  days  later  there  came  down  a  great  specialist 
from  New  York  for  a  consultation;  and  while  he  was 
upstairs  in  her  closed  bedroom,  I  walked  up  and  down 
the  floor  of  the  library,  over  the  Turkish  rugs,  between 
the  black  oak  bookcases,  as  I  had  walked  in  that  other 
house  on  the  night  of  my  failure.  How  small  a  thing 
that  seemed  to  me  now  compared  with  this !  What 
I  remembered  best  from  that  night  was  the  look  in 
her  face  when  she  had  turned  and  run  back  to  me 
with  her  arms  outstretched,  and  the  warm,  flattened 
braid  of  her  hair  that  had  brushed  my  cheek.  I 
understood  at  last,  as  I  walked  restlessly  back  and 
forth,  waiting  for  the  verdict  from  the  closed  room, 
that  I  had  been  happy  then  —  if  I  had  only  known  it ! 
The  warmth  stifled  me,  and  going  to  the  window,  I 
flung  it  open,  and  leaned  out  into  the  mild  November 
weather.  In  the  street  below  leaves  were  burning, 
and  while  the  odour  floated  up  to  me  I  saw  again 
her  red  shoes  dancing  over  the  sunken  graves  in  the 
churchyard. 

The  door  opened  above,  there  was  the  sound  of  a 
slow  heavy  tread  on  the  staircase,  and  I  went  forward 
to  meet  the  great  specialist  as  he  came  into  the 
room. 

For  a  minute  he  looked  at  me  enquiringly  over  a 


THE   ULTIMATE  CHOICE  46 L 

pair  of  black-rimmed  glasses,  while  I  stood  there 
neither  thinking  nor  feeling,  but  waiting.  Something 
in  my  brain,  which  until  then  had  seemed  to  tick  the 
slow  movement  of  time,  came  suddenly  to  a  stop  like 
a  clock  that  has  run  down. 

^'In  my  opinion  an  operation  is  unnecessary^  Mr. 
Starr,"  he  said,  drawing  out  his  watch  as  he  spoke, 
^^and  in  your  wife's  present  condition  I  seriously 
advise  against  it.  The  injury  to  the  spine  may  not 
be  permanent,  but  there  is  only  one  cure  for  it  — 
time  —  time  and  rest.  To  make  recovery  possible  she 
should  have  absolute  quiet,  absolute  freedom  from 
care.  She  must  be  taken  to  a  milder  climate,  —  I 
would  suggest  southern  California,  —  and  she  must  be 
kept  free  from  mental  disturbance  for  a  number  of 
years.'' 

^^In  that  case  there  is  hope  of  recovery?" 

For  an  instant  he  stared  at  me  blankly,  his  gaze 
wandering  from  his  watch  to  the  clock  on  the  mantel, 
as  if  there  were  a  discrepancy  in  the  time,  which  he 
would  like  to  correct. 

''Ah,  yes,  hope,"  he  replied  suddenly,  in  a  cheerful 
voice,  ^' there  is  always  hope."  Then  having  uttered 
his  confession  of  faith,  he  appeared  to  grow  ner- 
vous. ''Have  you  a  time-table  on  your  desk?" 
he  enquired.  "I'd  like  to  look  up  an  earlier  train 
than  the  Florida  special." 

Having  looked  up  his  train,  he  turned  to  shake 
hands  with  me,  while  the  abstracted  and  preoccupied 
expression  in  his  face  grew  a  trifle  more  human,  as  if 
he  had  found  what  he  wanted. 

"What  your  wife  needs,  my  dear  sir,"  he  remarked, 


462  THE   ROMANCE   OF  A   PLAIN   MAN 

as  he  went  out,  ^^is  not  medical  treatment,  but  daily 
and  hourly  care/' 

A  minute  later,  when  the  front  door  had  closed 
after  him,  and  the  motor  car  had  borne  him  on  his 
way  to  the  station,  I  stood  alone  in  the  room,  repeat- 
ing his  words  with  a  kind  of  joy,  as  if  they  contained 
the  secret  of  happiness  for  which  I  had  sought.  ^^  Daily 
and  hourly  care,  daily  and  hourly  care/'  I  tried  to 
think  clearly  of  what  it  meant  —  of  the  love,  the 
sacrifice,  the  service  that  would  go  into  it.  I  tried, 
too,  to  think  of  her  as  she  was  lying  now,  still  and 
pale  in  the  room  upstairs,  with  the  expression  of 
touching  helplessness,  of  pathetic  courage,  about  her 
mouth;  but  even  as  I  made  the  effort,  the  scent  of 
burning  leaves  floated  again  through  the  window  and 
I  could  see  her  only  in  her  red  shoes  dancing  over  the 
sunken  graves.  '^ Daily  and  hourly  care,''  I  repeated 
aloud. 

The  words  were  still  on  my  lips  when  old  Esdras, 
stepping  softly,  came  in  and  put  a  telegram  into  my 
hands,  and  as  I  tore  it  open,  I  said  over  slowly,  like 
one  who  impresses  a  fact  on  the  memory,  ^^  What  your 
wife  needs  is  daily  and  hourly  care."  Ah,  she  should 
have  it.  How  she  should  have  it !  Then  my  eyes 
fell  on  the  paper,  and  before  I  read  the  words,  I  knew 
that  it  was  the  offer  of  the  presidency  of  the  Great 
South  Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad.  The  end  of 
my  ambition,  the  great  adventure  of  my  boyhood,  lay 
in  my  grasp. 

With  the  telegram  still  in  my  hand,  I  went  up  the 
staircase,  and  entered  the  bedroom  where  Sally  was 
lying,  with  wide,  bright  eyes,  in  the  dimness. 


THE    ULTIMATE    CHOICE  463 

"It's  good  news/'  I  said,  as  I  bent  over  her,  "there's 
only  good  news  to-day." 

She  looked  up  at  me  with  that  searching  brightness 
I  had  seen  when  she  gazed  straight  beyond  me  for  the 
help  that  I  could  not  give. 

"It  means  going  away  from  everything  I  have 
ever  known/'  she  said  slowly;  "it  means  leaving  you, 
Ben." 

"It  means  never  leaving  me  again  in  your  life,"  I 
replied;  "not  for  a  day  —  not  for  an  hour." 

"You  will  go,  too?"  she  asked,  and  the  faint  won« 
der  in  her  face  pierced  to  my  heart. 

"Do  you  think  I'd  be  left?"    I  demanded. 

Her  eyes  filled  and  as  she  turned  from  me,  a  tear 
fell  on  my  hand. 

"But  your  work,  your  career  —  oh,  no,  no,  Ben, 
no." 

"You  are  my  career,  darling,  I  have  never  in  my 
heart  had  any  career  but  you.  What  I  am,  I  am  yours, 
Sally,  but  there  are  things  that  I  cannot  give  you 
because  they  are  not  mine,  because  they  are  not  in 
me.     These  are  the  things  that  were  George's." 

Lifting  my  hand  she  kissed  it  gently  and  let  it  fall 
with  a  gesture  that  expressed  an  acquiescence  in  life 
rather  than  a  surrender  to  love. 

"I've  sometimes  thought  that  if  I  hadn't  loved 
you  first,  Ben  —  if  I  could  ever  have  changed,  I  should 
have  loved  George,"  she  said,  and  added  very  softly, 
like  one  who  seeks  to  draw  strength  from  a  radiant 
memory,  "but  I  had  already  loved  you  once  for  all,  I 
suppose,  in  the  beginning." 

"I  am  yours,  such  as  I  am/'  I  returned.     "Plain  I 


464  THE   ROMANCE   OF   A   PLAIN    MAN 

shall  always  be  —  plain  and  rough  sometimes,  and 
forgetful  to  the  end  of  the  little  things  —  but  the  big 
things  are  there  as  you  know,  Sally,  as  you  know.^^ 

''As  I  know,"  she  repeated,  a  little  sadly,  yet  with 
the  pathetic  courage  in  her  voice;  ^'and  it  is  the  big 
things,  after  all,  that  Vve  wanted  most  all  my  life." 

Then  she  shook  her  head  with  a  smile  that  brought 
me  to  my  knees  at  her  side.  , 

''YouVe  forgotten  the  railroad,"  she  said.  '' YouVe 
forgotten  the  presidency  of  the  South  Midland  — 
that's  what  you  wanted  most." 

My  laugh  answered  her.  ^^Hang  the  presidency  of 
the  South  Midland!"    I  responded  gaily. 

Her  brows  went  up,  and  she  looked  at  me  with  the 
shadow  of  her  old  charming  archness.  By  this  look 
I  knew  that  the  spirit  of  the  Blands  would  fight  on, 
though  always  with  that  faint  wonder.  Then  her 
eyes  fell  on  the  crumpled  telegram  I  still  held  in 
my  hand,  and  she  reached  to  take  it. 

"What  is  that,  dear?"   she  asked. 

Breaking  away  from  her,  I  walked  to  the  fireplace 
and  tossed  the  offer  of  the  presidency  of  the  South 
Midland  and  Atlantic  Railroad  into  the  grate.  It 
caught  slowly,  and  I  stood  there  while  it  flamed  up, 
and  then  crumbled  with  curled  fier}^  ends  among  the 
ashes.  When  it  was  quite  gone,  I  turned  and  came 
back  to  her. 

''Only  a  bit  of  waste  paper,"  I  answered. 


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